Predicting sensory characteristics of cakes enriched with xylanase treated cereal brans by physicochemical and thermal properties assessment

Cereal bran is one of the most common ingredients used for increasing the dietary fibre content of foods due to its low cost, availability, familiarity, functionality and acceptable sensory characteristics. Oat and rice bran were treated with different levels (0, 70 and 700 ppm) of an endoxylanase enzyme and added to cakes on 30% flour weight basis. Endoxylanase treatment significantly (P<0.05) increased the consistency values and lowered the shear-thinning index in the cake batters. Regarding the thermal properties of the batters it was observed that endoxylanase treatment increased significantly (P<0.05) the onset and peak temperature values and lowered significantly (P<0.05) the gelatinization enthalpy change (ΔHg) values of the respective batters. All cakes with endoxylanase treated cereal brans showed significantly (P<0.05) higher cake volume and softer texture than untreated ones, although their moisture content did not differentiate significantly (P<0.05). Finally, the addition of endoxylanase treated cereal brans led to cakes with greater appreciation by panelists that is mainly attributed to the textural parameters and the appearance of the respective cakes, as the flavor and taste of the cakes did not alter when endoxylanase treated cereal bran was used. The level of the endoxylanase treatment did not alter significantly (P<0.05) any attributes of the cakes. The study also proved that the cake sensory attributes (overall acceptability, appearance and decomposition perceived as mouthfeel) can be efficiently predicted by objective measurement of the thermal and physicochemical parameters of cakes or batters. Such a prediction is very important for the quality control in the food industries.