Nutritionally Enriched Maize- and Rice-Based Gluten-Free Biscuits: Leveraging Local Legume Flours for Improved Quality

Gluten-free (GF) baked goods often lack nutritional balance due to the limited protein and fiber content of standard cereal flours like rice and maize. A mixture design methodology was used to evaluate the interaction effects between cereal and legume flours on the physical and textural properties of the biscuits, including hardness, water activity (aw), CIE color parameters (L*, a*, and b*), spread ratio, and baking loss. The results indicated that incorporating legume flour, particularly chickpea flour, significantly increased biscuit hardness (from 22.00 N to 34.66 N) and reduced water activity (from 0.23 to 0.17). All three legume flours reduced the spread ratio, with chickpea flour having the most pronounced effect (from 4.91 to 4.75). Nutritionally, the inclusion of legume flours improved the protein (from 6.46 g/100 g to 11.90 g/100 g), mineral (from 0.58 g/100 g to 1.25 g/100 g), fiber (from 15.73 g/100 g to 21.13 g/100 g), and polyphenol contents (0.34 mg GAE/g compared to 0.18 mg GAE/g for the control). Moreover, DPPH scavenging activity was significantly higher (72.72% vs. 31.49% for the control). Sensory evaluations indicated that the inclusion of legume flours positively affected the biscuits' overall sensory attributes, especially appearance, but had a minor negative effect on texture. This study aimed at utilizing local legume flours: faba bean, chickpea, and lentil, besides the traditional standard flours: rice and maize, to develop nutritious and flavorful gluten-free biscuits. These results highlighted the use of combinations of local legume with cereal flours to produce GF biscuits with improved physical, sensory, and nutritional qualities.