Sensorial and Functional Properties of Nutri-Cereal Bran Enriched Muffins and Buns

Bran is waste generated during primary processing of cereal grains. These brans are rich source of dietary fiber, nutrients, phytonutrients especially phenols and flavonoids contributing to their antioxidant properties. Thus, bran is gaining lot of attention as functional ingredient in bakery industry due to their nutritional properties. Millets are tiny grains that are highly nutritious hence termed as nutri-cereals but their primary processing is tedious given its small size. This leads to loss of major portion of grain generating huge amount of bran and bran-rich fractions that are usually discarded or used as animal feed. Utilization of millet brans in value addition of bakery products still remains understudied. Thus, present study was designed to evaluate functional properties of minor millet bran (proso and barnyard) enriched flour (0 – 30%) and formulate bakery products viz. buns and muffins. It was evident from results that water absorption capacity of flour increased with addition of bran but water solubility index, oil absorption and foaming capacity decreased. The sensory scores of muffins and buns reduced with increased bran incorporation and control scored highest. Study concluded that muffins with 30% and buns with 20% proso and barnyard bran showed better acceptability.