Rheological and qualitative characteristics of pea flour incorporated cracker biscuits

The suitability of pea flour for cracker biscuits production was investigated in this study. Pea flour was characterised by high protein (21.46 %) and ash (3.11 %) content and exhibited relatively high emulsifying (37.50 ml/100 ml) and foaming (53.50 ml/100 ml) capacity. The effect of pea flour incorporation to wheat dough (substitution levels 0, 10, 20 and 30 %) on the rheological properties, physical characteristics and sensory parameters of cracker biscuits were also evaluated. Farinographic measurements showed that pea flour addition resulted in increasing of water absorption (from 58.90 to 61.80 %) and dough development time (from 3.55 to 4.50 min), whereas dough stability was decreased (from 6.69 to 3.50 min). It was also found that incorporation of pea flour to cracker biscuits modified physical properties of final products by different ways (decreasing of volume index, width and spread ratio, increasing of thickness). From the sensory evaluation revealed that cracker biscuits prepared from blend flour contained 10 % pea flour showed no significant differences from wheat cracker biscuits. Higher levels of pea flour in the products adversely affected the odour, taste, firmness, colour and overall acceptance of final products.