Functional, Pasting and Physical Property of Wheat, Orange Flesh Sweet Potato and Chickpea Flour

Background and Objective: Bakery products traditionally rely on wheat flour, but growing health consciousness has spurred demand for gluten-free options.Chickpea and Orange-Fleshed Sweet Potato (OFSP) flours offer promising alternatives with enhanced nutritional profiles.The objective of this study is to characterize the functional, pasting and physical properties of Orange-Fleshed Sweet Potato (OFSP), chickpea and wheat flour to evaluate their potential as gluten-free alternatives in bakery products. Materials and Methods:This study determined the functional, pasting and physical properties of three types of flour: Orange-Fleshed Sweet Potato (OFSP), chickpea and wheat.A comprehensive analysis was conducted to characterize these properties, utilizing statistical analysis through ANOVA (p<0.05) to determine significant differences among the flours.Results: Chickpea flour demonstrated superior water (2.21 g/g) and oil absorption (1.03 g/g), alongside higher water solubility (25.41%) compared to wheat and OFSP flours.The OFSP flour showed greater dispersibility, bulk density (0.74 g/mL) and tapped density (0.87 mL/g).Wheat flour retained 50% on a 0.1 mm sieve, indicating finer particles and exhibited higher viscosities (2453.33 cp) and longer peak times (6.27 min) than chickpea and OFSP flours.Significant differences were also observed in color properties across the flours.Conclusion: This study highlights chickpea and OFSP flours as effective gluten-free alternatives in bakery products, enhancing nutritional profiles and demonstrating their versatile applications.