Abstract:
The demand for ready-to-eat foods, such as cereal bars is increasing rapidly among
consumers due to their availability, affordability and convenience. This study focused
on development of a nutritious Cereal bar using Suwandel rice flour and
Pachchaperumal rice popcorn as alternative to high sugar snacks. The novel recipe
was developed from a compressed mixture of rice, coconut and honey, varying
proportions of Suwandel rice and Pachchaperumal rice popcorn were combined with
other ingredients and subjected to sensory evaluation and statistical analysis. The
combination of 90% (w/w) Suwandel rice flour and 10% Pachchaperumal rice popcorn
(T3) obtained the highest overall acceptability compared with other samples and T3
was selected as the best formulation. Physico-chemical properties, proximate analysis
and shelf life evaluation were conducted for T3 and compared against the control
sample. Crude protein, crude ash and crude fibre level of the new product were higher
(14.75%, 2.54% and 6.79%) compared to those of the control (12.46%, 1.71% and
5.81%) respectively. New product had 4.15% crude fat and 64.65% carbohydrate
content which were significantly lower than the control sample with 4.24% crude fat
and 67.83% carbohydrate. After 5 days of storage period, moisture content has
increased to 7.12% in new sample and 7.95% in control sample which indicates that
new product has comparatively longer shelf life. According to the results, new cereal
bar with traditional rice has gained better attributes. Hence it can be promoted as a
value added healthy food product while enhancing the utilization of traditional rice
varieties.
