Martha Wunnam Alhassan^1,, Theodora Ojangba¹, Francis Kweku Amagloh¹

The consumption of wheat products is increasing in Africa even though the climatic conditions in many African countries do not promote its cultivation. The main objective of the study was to develop a nutritious gluten-free biscuit from peanut-millet composite flour. Three composite flours were prepared from peanut (P) and Pearl millet (M). These include; PMF01 (60% PF: 40% MF), PMF02 (40% PF: 60% MF), and PMF03 (50% PF: 50% MF). The proximate compositions and sensory qualities of the composite biscuits were determined and compared with biscuit prepared from 100% wheat flour as control. There were no significant differences (p > 0.05) between the composite biscuits and the 100% wheat biscuit in all the proximate compositions (moisture, crude fat and carbohydrate) except protein and ash contents. The 100% wheat biscuit recorded lower protein and ash contents (7.26±0.35^c and 1.01±0.01^c respectively) compared to the composite biscuits. Fifty (50) untrained sensory judges were used to assess the consumer acceptability of the biscuit products using a 7-point hedonic scale (from 1 = dislike extremely to 7 = like extremely). The sensory attributes that were assessed include color, taste, aroma, crispiness and overall acceptability. The results of the sensory analysis revealed that the composite biscuits were generally liked and accepted. This indicates that peanut-millet composite biscuits when commercialized may be accepted by consumers. Peanut-millet flour formulations can therefore potentially substitute wheat flour in biscuit making.

gluten-free, formulation, composite flour, biscuit, consumer acceptability