Assessing the suitability of wheat germplasm for biscuit preparation

A b s t r a c t. Wheat (Triticum aestivum) belonging to family Poaceae is the basic cereal consumed in many countries as a staple food and categorized based on protein, i.e. hard wheat (>10%) and soft wheat (7-10%).Hard wheat is used for bread production, while soft wheat is utilized in preparation of biscuits and cakes.The current study was planned to explore the potential of locally grown wheat germplasm for biscuits with special reference to physicochemical and sensory evaluation.For this purpose, wheat germplasm was inspected based on desired colour (medium brownish, light brownish, dark brownish, and yellowish), and selected genotypes were subjected to thousand kernel weight, NIR, and colour analysis.In the next stage, wheat was milled into straight grade flour and compositional (proximate, gluten, and mineral) as well as rheological analyses (farinograph and viscosity) were done.Further, biscuits prepared from flour were evaluated for quality characteristics like the spread factor, colour, hardness, and sensory profile.Based on the obtained results, it was determined that wheat germplasm with low protein levels (10.10.50, 9.200.34,10.610.54,and 11.820.63,correspondingly) i.e.Line-3, Zincol, A-84, and A-21 was the best for preparing biscuits.The spread factor (59.7673.39),hardness (3.410.37),colour (L*=68.981.81,a*=3.040.72 and b*= 30.310.85), and overall acceptability (8.051.16ab ) had the best results for A-21.Therefore, it was suggested that germplasm A-21 must be grown as a variety to obtain straight grade flour that can be potentially utilized for biscuit preparation.