Quality properties of puffed corn snacks incorporated with sesame seed powder.

Puffed corn snacks are tasty and affordable cereal-based food products which have a relatively poor nutritional quality. Sesame seed is a rich source of essential amino and fatty acids, phenolic compounds, tocopherols, and antioxidants. In this study, puffed corn snacks were produced by incorporating sesame powder at 0% (control sample), 5%, 10%, and 15% levels in its formulation and stored at room temperature (24°C) for 60 days. Fatty acid composition, tocopherol, sesamin and sesamolin, phenolic compounds, peroxide value (PV), acidity (AV), and sensory evaluation of the samples were determined. The results indicate that oleic acid content increased and palmitic acid decreased significantly (p < .05) in all the samples at 10% and 15% inclusion levels. The content of phenolic compounds, γ-tocopherols, sesamin, and sesamolin had significant increases in all the formulated samples. PV results indicated that the formulated samples had a higher stability when the ratio of sesame powder was increased, while the AV values showed a significant increase during storage. Incorporation of 10% sesame powder in the snack formulation had a positive effect on the stability, sensory, and nutritional quality of the product. This approach can be used to modify nutritional quality of this food product and introduce to food market as a relatively healthy snack.