Dough Rheology, Physicochemical and Sensory Qualities of Muffins Made From Wheat–Partially Defatted Peanut Composite Flour

Peanuts are nutritious, containing antioxidants and health benefiting and promoting bioactives. Moreover, they have excellent amino acid profiles composed of 20 amino acids making them an important ingredient to enhance the quality baked products like muffins. The influence of blend proportion of partially defatted peanut flour (PDPF) at the level of 10%, 15%, 20%, and 25% on dough rheology and quality attributes of muffins made from wheat-PDPF composite flour was studied. The Farinograph and Alveograph properties were significantly (<i>p</i> < 0.05) affected due to the proportion of PDPF. The dough development time (DDT) increased, whereas the water absorption capacity (WAC), stability (<i>S</i>), tenacity (<i>p</i>), dough strength (<i>W</i>), extensibility (<i>L</i>), swelling index (<i>G</i>), elasticity index (Ie), and configuration ratio (<i>P</i>/<i>L</i>) significantly (<i>p</i> < 0.05) decreased with increase in the relative percentage of PDPF. The protein, fat, fiber, and ash content of muffins also increased with increase in the proportion of PDPF. The crumb and crust colors were also significantly influenced where the crust and crumb lightness (<i>L</i>∗) value decreased from 60.3 to 53.8 and from 62.5 to 51.2 with increase in PDPF, respectively. Incorporation of the PDPF improved the sensory evaluation scores for texture, taste, color, flavor, and overall acceptability. In view of relatively high dough rheological properties including WAC (59.9%), stability (10.8 min), <i>L</i> (56 mm), <i>W</i> (108 × 10^-4 J), and high contents of protein (10.5%), fiber (1.8%), and ash (1.9%) coupled with high sensory taste (7.2) and overall acceptability (7.3) scores, PDPF can be incorporated up to 15% for acceptable muffins.