Abstract:
The purpose of this study was to develop a new bitter gourd biscuit product by incorporating bitter gourd paste into biscuit formulations, and then to determine the effects of different percentages of bitter gourd paste on the physicochemical properties and the sensory acceptance of the bitter gourd biscuits. Biscuits were prepared with different ratio of bitter gourd paste to all-purpose flour. Six formulations of the biscuits including the control sample were prepared. The all-purpose flour was replaced by bitter gourd paste at 0%, 10%, 20%, 30%, 40% and 50% incorporation levels in biscuit preparation. SAS programme was used to determine the Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and the Duncan's Multiple Range Test (DMRT). The results indicated that an increased of bitter gourd paste resulted in a decreased texture of hardness and fracturability of the biscuits. The lightness and yellowness of the biscuits decreased while the redness increased with the increased levels of bitter gourd paste. No significant difference was observed in the physical characteristics of the biscuits in terms of texture and colour profile. The results from this study also revealed that there was no significant difference in the low moisture content of the biscuits that ranged from 1.85 to 2.73%. The ash content (mineral) increased significantly from 3.46 to 6.05% with a higher percentage of bitter gourd paste. The fibre content also increased from 0.87 to 2.16% with a higher percentage of bitter gourd paste but showed no significant difference. Besides that, the fat content increased significantly from 17. 72 to 25 .67% with the increased of bitter gourd paste in biscuits. On the other hand, the protein content decreased from 8.83 to 7. 77% with a higher percentage of bitter gourd paste but showed no significant difference.
