Malt bagasse waste flour as a sustainable ingredient for enriching cheese biscuits

Abstract Annually, the agroindustry generates approximately 140 tons of waste, making its effective repurposing critically important to mitigate significant environmental damages. In the brewing industry, malt bagasse constitutes a substantial 85% of the overall waste output, with some repurposed for animal feed. However, surplus production encounters challenges in finding suitable outlets. The composition of malt bagasse is rich in proteins, fibers, and lignin, captivating the bakery sector. Thus, this study aimed to prepare whole-grain cheese biscuits incorporating malt bagasse flour (MBF) in different concentrations (20–50%) and evaluate the technological, functional, and acceptability properties of the product. The addition of MBF increased the content of lipids (7.1%), proteins (9.7%), and fibers (95.8%), while moisture (31.1%) and hue angle (7.95%) were reduced. The overall quality and the acceptance rate of the biscuits were higher than 77%, indicating that MBF is a potential food waste to significantly improve the nutritional and technological properties of cheese biscuits.