Developing fruit-based nutritious snack bars.

BACKGROUND: Marolo (Annona crassiflora Mart) is a typical savannah fruit that is very nutritious and highly appreciated. However, its consumption has been limited to fresh fruit. The objective of this study was to evaluate the potential use of marolo flour in the production of healthy snack bars to valorise this fruit and provide an alternative ready-to-eat nutritious product. Snack bars containing increasing amounts of marolo flour (5 g 100 g(-1), 10 g 100 g(-1), 15 g 100 g(-1), 20 g 100 g(-1), expressed in w/w) were produced and the physico-chemical and sensory characteristics were determined. RESULTS: Levels up to 20% marolo flour can be incorporated in snack bars with some minor changes in pH and moisture content but with an increase of 2.4-fold in dietary fibre content and also 1.3-fold of vitamin C, minerals and antioxidant activity. In addition, up to 10% marolo flour improves significantly the sensory properties of the snack bars, namely appearance, taste, texture and overall acceptance. CONCLUSION: Marolo flour can be considered an alternative flour for obtaining healthy snack bars, with increased nutritional and sensory quality.