Optimization of Multi‐Millet Cookie Formulation Using Mixture Design and Their Physicochemical Characterization

ABSTRACT The effect of the composition of multi‐millet flour on the sensory acceptability of gluten‐free cookies containing xanthan gum as a binding agent was investigated and optimized. A three‐component simplex centroid mixture design (including seven standard simplex centroid points and three augment runs) was employed for optimizing formulations using Design‐Expert software. The lower and upper constraints of the component variables (pearl millet, finger millet, and sorghum) were determined from a hit‐and‐trial method. Fifty panelists evaluated the formulated products on five sensory attributes using a nine‐point hedonic scale, and overall acceptability was calculated as an average of all attributes. The optimized gluten‐free cookies with a desirability of 0.849 contain 15 g of pearl millet, 50 g of finger millet, and 15 g of sorghum flour. Validation and confirmation tests of the model indicated a good agreement between predicted and observed ratings for the sensory attributes of gluten‐free cookies with xanthan gum as a binding agent. The optimized cookies are energy rich, and the utilization of multi‐millet flour aligns the study with UN‐SDGs.