Role of broccoli flower powder as a novel plant-based ingredient in the development of the dumpling

Dumplings are a popular food item globally, made from a meat filler of ground meat and vegetables wrapped in wheat flour dough. Replacing broccoli flower powder with ground pork in dumplings creates a promising opportunity to develop dumplings that offer additional nutritional benefits. Broccoli flower ( Brassica Oleracea var. italica ) offers a range of benefits, particularly in its dietary aspects, with a protein content of approximately 21% and the inclusion of soluble dietary fiber. The objectives of this study were to determine whether substituting ground pork with broccoli flower powder in the dumpling filling would enhance the texture and nutritional properties of the dumpling. Broccoli flower powder was substituted for 10%, 20%, and 30% of the ground pork in the dumpling filling. Attributes such as pH, color, cook loss, and texture analysis were used to analyze the dumplings. The cooking loss showed an increasing trend from 23% to over 30% when broccoli flower powder was used to substitute the dumpling filling at a rate of 20% or more. However, no significant differences were observed between the cooking loss of control and the dumpling (p < 0.05). The hardness of the dumplings decreased from 5,900 g in control to below 2,100 g in the samples with broccoli flower powder substituted for ground pork. The decrease in hardness was attributed to the reduction in protein content when broccoli flower powder was substituted for ground pork. Results showed improvement in functional and nutritional properties. The 10% substitutions showed the best functional properties without severely affecting the textural properties. Overall, replacing broccoli flower powder with ground pork in dumplings created promising dumplings that contain additional dietary benefits; however, limitations, especially in their textural properties, need to be improved for the product to have the potential to be accepted by consumers.