Rational Food Design Targeting Micronutrient Deficiencies in Adolescents: Nutritional, Acoustic-Mechanical and Sensory Properties of Chickpea-Rice Biscuits.

"Hidden hunger", the deficiency of important mineral micronutrients, affects more than 2 billion people globally. Adolescence is unquestionably a period of nutritional risk, given the high nutritional requirements for growth and development, erratic or capricious diets and the increased consumption of snacks. This study applied the rational food design approach to obtain micronutrient-dense biscuits by combining chickpea and rice flours to achieve an optimal nutritional profile, crunchy texture and appealing flavour. The perception of 33 adolescents regarding the suitability of such biscuits as a mid-morning snack was examined. Four biscuits were formulated, with different ratios of chickpea and rice flours (CF:RF): G100:0, G75:25, G50:50 and G25:75. Nutritional content, baking loss, acoustic-texture and sensory analyses were carried out. On average, the mineral content of biscuits with the CF:RF ratio of 100:0 doubled compared with the 25:75 formula. The dietary reference values for iron, potassium and zinc reached 100% in the biscuits with CF:RF ratios of 50:50, 75:25 and 100:0, respectively. The analysis of mechanical properties revealed that samples G100:0 and G75:25 were harder than the others. Sample G100:0 showed the highest sound pressure level (Smax). Sensory analysis showed that increasing the proportion of CF in the formulation augments the grittiness, hardness, chewiness and crunchiness. Most of the adolescents (72.7%) were habitual snack consumers; 52% awarded scores ≥ 6 (out of 9) to biscuit G50:50 for its overall quality, 24% described its flavour as "biscuit" and 12% as "nutty". However, 55% of the participants could not pinpoint any dominant flavour. In conclusion, it is possible to design nutrient-dense snacks that meet the micronutrient requirements and sensory expectations of adolescents by combining flours naturally rich in micronutrients.

Hybrid Spreadable Cheese Analogues with Faba Bean and Mealworm (Tenebrio molitor) Flours: Optimisation Using Desirability-Based Mixture Design.

Hybrid products could help bridge the gap as new alternative diets emerge in response to the demand for less animal protein, while recent studies suggest that the Western population is not yet ready to fully embrace an alternative protein-based diet. This study used a desirability-based mixture design to model hybrid spreadable cheese analogues (SCAs). The design combined milk protein concentrate (MPC), Tenebrio molitor (IF) and faba bean (FBP) flours, representing 7.1% of the formula. Nine SCAs with different MPC/FBP/IF ratios were formulated. Incorporating the IF negatively impacted the desirable texture properties. The FBP flour improved the texture (increasing firmness and stickiness and decreasing spreadability), but only when combined with MPC. Sensory analysis showed that hybrid SCAs (≤50% MPC) C2, C7 and C9 had a more characteristic cheesy flavour than the commercial plant-based reference, and sample C2 had a texture profile similar to the dairy reference. Samples containing IF (C7 and C9) showed a better flavour profile than that without IF (C2). The SCAs had higher protein and lower saturated fat, starch and sugar content than commercial analogues. The study suggests that incorporating alternative proteins in hybrid products can be an effective approach to reduce animal protein content, specifically dairy, in food formulations.