Enhancing the Nutritional Value of Oat Bars

摘要

The present work was designed to prepare four different oat bar formulas (F1, F2, F3 and F4) from quick oat flakes, sunflower, chickpea and pumpkin seeds. Chemical, physical, textural, microbiological and sensory evaluation were performed. The results indicated that the substitution of oat with sunflower, chickpea and pumpkin seeds significantly enhanced the nutritional value of the resultant bars. Protein and fat contents significantly increased. Total phenols, total flavonoids, tannins and antioxidant activity significantly increased in F2, F3 and F4 compared to F1. Substitution of oat with sunflower, chickpea and pumpkin seeds has no significant effect on taste, color, flavor and overall acceptability but, it had a significant effect on appearance. Hardness, microbiological counts and peroxide values increased while water activity decreased during storage period for three months. The results clearly demonstrated the value of substituting oat with sunflower, chickpea and pumpkin seeds to produce oat bars with good nutritional value and stability up to two months. Sunflower formula was the most valuable addition with the highest acceptability followed by pumpkin formula.