Evaluation of Bioactive Compounds and Characterization of Bryophillum pinnatum Infusion in Broken Brown Rice-Bambara Nut Extruded Flakes

Breakfast cereals play a significant role in daily nutritional intake, and it depends on raw materials, ingredients, and processing. Consumers' growing knowledge of the diet-health relationship is driving a trend towards more informed and healthier food choice. Therefore, there is a need to optimally develop food products that can harness proper nutrition and improve the general wellbeing of the population. The plant Bryophyllum pinnatum is known for diverse array of bioactive compounds imparting its medicinal properties. In this study, a novel combination of broken brown rice, Bambara groundnut and aqueous Bryophyllum pinnatum extract with improved nutritional, mineral and phytochemical properties was developed. Variables such as nutritional composition, mineral composition and phytochemicals were optimized using three-variable simplex-lattice mixture design based on response surface methodology. The optimal value for broken brown rice, Bambara groundnut and Bryophyllum pinnatum extract blend ratio was 64.02:33.02:2.96 and its effect on production of flake gives preferred sensory attributes with significant increase in protein content (p<0.05).