Physicochemical, Functional and Biscuit Making Properties of Wheat Flour and Potato Flour Blends

Background: Potato flour, being nutritious and a high source of carbohydrates, has been explored for the manufacturing of biscuits. Methods: Replacement of refined wheat flour with potato flour at various levels (5 to 30%) was done for the preparation of biscuit. The physicochemical and functional properties of wheat flour, potato flour prepared from Kufri Chipsona-1 and flour blends were also studied. Results: The nutritional composition of potato flour indicated a higher fibre (3.50%) and carbohydrate (82.79%) content than wheat flour. Wheat flour showed higher water holding capacity (7.4 ml g-1), oil holding capacity (2.8 ml g-1), water retention capacity (50.4%) and alkaline water retention capacity (55.8%) than potato flour. The crude fibre and carbohydrate content of biscuits increased significantly (p<0.05) from 2.34 to 3.52% and 68.88 to 69.72%, respectively, after incorporation of potato flour. The spread ratio of biscuits decreased with incorporation of potato flour. The L* value decreased significantly (p<0.05) from 30.44 to 25.47 whereas the hardness of biscuits increased significantly (p<0.05) from 9.8 N to 20.8 N on increasing the level of potato flour incorporation. Conclusion: The sensory characteristics of biscuits prepared by replacing wheat flour by 25% potato flour were similar to control sample. The functional properties also showed an increasing trend with increase in the incorporation of potato flour.