Sensory and Nutritional Evaluation of Value Added Products using Peanut Flour for Nutritional and Health Benefits

Protein energy malnutrition is the major concern of nutrition. Malnutrition is an underlying cause of death of 2.6 million children each year – one-third of the global total of children’s deaths. Partially defatted peanut flour, is a protein-rich, inexpensive and underutilized product that offers the same health and dietary benefits of peanut with less fat and can be utilized for making value added products to eradicate malnutrition among children. It was prepared by crushing roasted peanuts to extract oil and then grinding the left over meal into flour. Partially defatted peanut flour was blended with cereals and pulses for making five value added products and were evaluated for sensory quality by using nine point hedonic rating scale and nutritional composition by using standard methods. The acceptable percentage of peanut flour was 10% for vada, 15% for halwa, dhokla, 20% for idli, and 50% for panjeeri and overall acceptability score was 8 for vada, 8.3 for halwa, 8.04 for dhokla , 8.13 for idli and 8.04 for panjeeri. The developed products were found to be highly nutritious as vada gives 424.58 Kcal of energy, 25.34% protein, 140.85 mg calcium and 3.42mg of iron. Halwa gives 630.78 Kcal, 15.49% of protein, 49.00mg of calcium and 4.34mg of iron. Dhokla gives 408.85 Kcal of energy, 28.90% of protein, calcium 187.50 mg and iron 3.86mg per100g. Idli provides 393.95 Kcal of energy, 19.50 % of protein, 137.08 mg of calcium and 1.50 mg/100g. Panjeeri provides 482.50 Kcal of energy, 31.00 g of protein, 57.62 mg of calcium and 3.70 mg of iron. The products were popularized among self help groups by giving lectures and demonstrations of most acceptable products for their nutritional and health benefits. Microbial estimation of partially defatted peanut flour showed that peanut flour stored in polythene bags is safe after 3 months storage.