Preparation and Characterization of Microwave-made Oat and Fruit Cupcakes

Tables index

Veiw figure View Table

The ingredients were mixed manually in stainless steel container with the aid of spatula during 5 minutes. The homogeneous dough was placed on silicone shapes with dimensions of 7×6×3 cm. They were then taken to the high power microwave oven (Electrolux-MTD30) where they remained for five minutes. The products were cooled at room temperature, removed from the shapes and properly stored until analysis.

2.3. Chemical and Physicochemical Analysis

Analysis were performed in the Food Analysis Laboratory, belonging to the Institute of Exact and Earth Sciences, Federal University of Mato Grosso. Samples were crushed and homogenized for further analysis, performed in triplicate. All reagents used were of appropriate degree of purity for analysis (P.A).

The contents of moisture, lipids, ash, pH, titratable acidity and soluble solids were carried out in accordance with Instituto Adolfo Lutz ^[7]. Analysis of protein, reducing sugars, non-reducing and total sugars were carried out according to A.O.A.C. ^[8].

2.4. Sensory Analysis

Sensory analysis was performed in the Sensory Analysis Laboratory of Food of the Institute of Extact and Earth Sciences, of the Federal University of Mato Grosso and followed the rules established by Instituto Adolfo Lutz ^[7]. Affective tests of acceptance by hedonic scale and purchase intent tests were carried out with 100 untrained judges aged 18 to 50 with availability and interest in participating in the tests.

For the affective test of acceptance, a structured hedonic scale of 9 points, ranging from "extremely liked" (9) to "extremely disliked" (1), was used to evaluate the following parameters: color, taste, aroma, texture and overall acceptance. Consumer purchase intent was assessed using a scale of 5 (five) points ranging from "would definitely buy" (5) to "would definitely not buy" (1).

2.5. Statistical Analysis

Data were subjected to analysis of variance (ANOVA) and the study of differences between means detected by Tukey test (p <0.05).

3. Results and Discussion

3.1. Chemical and Physicochemical Analysis

Table 2 presents the values of the chemical analysis of cupcakes. Results were expressed as mean and standard deviation.

Table 2. Chemical analysis carried out on the products (%)

Download as

Tables index

Veiw figure View Table

The moisture content found in the cupcake with banana and apple was 42.82% while that of pineapple with mint was 51.51%, with a significant difference between them at p < 0.05. In a study of preparation of chocolate cake with yacon and inulin flour, ^[9] found values close to the studied (42.57%) for standard formulation. The determination of moisture is one of the most important measurements and is used in food analysis because it is related to its stability, quality and composition, and can affect the storage, packaging and processing ^[10].

The amount of protein found in the samples were 2.1% for BA and 2.0% for PM, with no significant difference at p <0.05. These values were similar to those found by ^[11], who found 2.3% protein when preparing carob gluten-free cupcakes.

The values obtained in the analysis of lipids were 2.80% for the BA and 2.53% for the PM, with no significant difference at p <0.05. However, in a study of the chemical composition of oat cake with addition of amaranth, ^[12] found values above the present study, 9.89% lipids for formulation with 22% amaranth, according to the authors this is due mainly to the Amaranth lipid content being 8% ^[13]. Thus it can be concluded that the products of this study have relatively low lipid levels when compared with those of other authors.

The ash content found in BA was 1.55% and 1.23% in PM, with no significant difference between them (p <0.05). Studying the chemical characteristics of cupcakes added with different concentrations of banana peel flour, ^[14] found values above those in the present study (2.49 and 2.41%) in ash content, according to the authors, different results may be found due to the different varieties of bananas used.

Table 3 shows the values of physicochemical analysis of cupcakes.

Table 3. Physicochemical parameters of cupcakes

Download as

Tables index

Veiw figure View Table

The values found in the analysis of pH and acidity were 6.85 and 0.55 for BA and 6.56 and 0.55 for PM, respectively, with no significant difference between them (p <0.05). These values were similar to those found by ^[15], who on studying cookies made with Moringa oleifera leaf found 6.75 and 6.67 for analysis of pH and values above those of this study for acidity, obtaining 1.56 and 1.65 for standard formulation and a formulation with 9.09% of Moringa oleifera leaf powder. For the soluble solids analysis, the values were 9 and 10 °Brix, respectively, for the BA and PM, with a significant difference at p <0.05.

Table 4 shows the values of the analysis of reducing, non-reducing and total sugars of cupcakes.

Table 4. Reducing, non-reducing and total sugars

Download as

Tables index

Veiw figure View Table

Studies on reducing, non-reducing and total sugars of cupcakes are scarce in literature. The amount of reducing, non reducing and total sugars found in BA were 2.63; 2.67 and 5.44 g glucose.g sample^-1 respectively. In PM, the values were 2.54; 2.57 and 5.25 g glucose.g sample^-1 respectively. There was no significant difference between the samples in all the analysis performed at p <0.05.

3.2. Sensory Analysis

Table 5 shows the means of the attributes evaluated in cupcakes such as color, aroma, texture, flavor, global acceptance, as well as purchase intent. Averages above 7.0 were obtained for all attributes, which corresponds to “Like Moderately” in a structured scale of 9 points, highlighting the attribute flavor which reached a value of 8.01 for BA which corresponds to “Like Very Much” on the hedonic scale. To be considered a product with good acceptance, the averages should exceed 6 on the hedonic scale of 9 points, which is the quality and marketing threshold ^[16].

Table 5. Sensory evaluation of oat cupcakes with fruits

Download as

Tables index

Veiw figure View Table