Nutritional and storage stability of wheat-based crackers incorporated with brown rice flour and carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC)

Abstract

A study was conducted to develop brown rice flour (BRF) incorporated wheat-based crackers. Central composite rotatable design with three independent variables – BRF (10–40%), carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) (1–3%), and shortening (5–12%) – produced 20 different combinations. Response surface methodology was used to study the effect of different levels of BRF, CMC, and shortenings on product characteristics like spread ratio, volume index, density, width, thickness, and puffiness. All the three independent variables significantly (p < 0.05) affected the product characteristics. However, BRF had more pronounced effect on product characteristics than other two independent variables. The optimum level of ingredients obtained by numerical optimization for development of crackers was – BRF to wheat flour ratio (10:90), CMC (1.8%), and shortening (5%). The optimized product packed in cellophane bags was found shelf stable for a period of 3 months under ambient conditions. The present study, therefore, confirms the feasibility of BRF incorporation (10%) in development of wheat-based crackers.