Physico-chemical Characterization of Cookies Supplemented with  Sugarcane Bagasse Fibres

Sugarcane bagasse is a by-product of sugarcane processing and it is rich in insoluble dietary fibers. The objective of this study was to develop cookies enriched with sugarcane bagasse as a fiber source with no added sugars. Bagasses with or without peel were collected from a jaggery manufacturing plant and they were dried, grinded, and sieved to obtain powder (moisture content, 3%). The fiber content (%, wet weight basis) of bagasse powders with and without peel were 12.43±0.30 and 8.61±0.38, respectively. Furthermore, the bagasse with peel contained the highest total phenolic content (1270.89±3.36 μg GAE/ g) than bagasse without peel (721.41±0.33 μg GAE/g). In addition, water holding capacities (WHC) of with peel and without peel bagasse were 4.85±2.91 and 8.04±1.78 g of water/g of bagasse powder, respectively. These two types of bagasse powders at 0% (control), 5%, and 10% (w/w) ratios were enriched to develop cookies. Texture analysis revealed that bagasse with peel enriched cookies were shown optimum hardness compare to the bagasse without peel cookies. According to the sensory evaluation, the 5% bagasse with peel enriched cookies showed the highest overall acceptability than other bagasse enriched cookies but lesser overall acceptability than the control. Collectively, these results suggest that the potential incorporation of sugarcane bagasse (with peel at 5%, w/w) is acceptable in cookies manufacturing.