The Development and Quality Evaluation of Fiber-Fortified Date Bars

Abstract Date bars are energy-dense snack foods developed from dried date fruits and sometimes enriched with other ingredients. They are popular functional foods for people who are looking for healthy snack options. Date bars can be fortified with different nutritional sources to overcome nutritional deficiencies among consumers. The present study was conducted to develop fiber-fortified date bars using rice bran, coconut powder, and nuts (almond, pistachio, and peanuts) with date paste as fiber sources and to examine their nutritional, microbiological, and sensorial characteristics. A total of five different formulations were developed and coded as T0 (control/ without fiber sources), T1 (120 g date paste + 15 g rice bran), T2 (120 g date paste + 15 g coconut powder), T3 (120 g date paste + 15 g nuts), T4 (120 g date paste + 5 g each of rice bran, coconut powder, and nuts). Among the treatments, T0 showed significantly higher moisture content (25.44%), TSS (64 oBrix), and non-reducing sugar (15.03%). T1 showed significantly higher titratable acidity (2.9%), Mg (2855.88 ppm), and Zn (48.88 ppm). T2 showed significantly higher crude fiber (8.92%), ash (2.75%), fat (6.34%), and reducing sugar (57.84%). T3 showed significantly higher protein (5.18%), and Mn (4.06 ppm) while T4 showed significantly higher Fe (8.44 ppm) and total sugars (65.69%). The results of the sensory analysis revealed T3 having the highest scores for most sensory attributes followed by T2, T4, and T1 while the control treatment (T0) received the lowest sensory scores. It can be concluded from the present study that fortification of date bars with different fiber sources improved their nutritional value, particularly the fiber content, while all treatments of date bars had an acceptable total plate count. Therefore, these functional snack foods can be served for better health to consumers.