Nutritional, microstructural, rheological and quality characteristics of biscuits using processed wheat germ.

Stabilizing wheat germ by defatting increased the protein content to 38% and also increased the soluble fiber from 2.07 to 3.01% and insoluble fiber increased from 14.4 to 24.49%, whereas steaming was highly effective in completely inactivating the lipase activity and most of the lipoxygenase activity. Addition of defatted germ had more weakening effects on the rheological characteristics of the dough than the steamed germ. Biscuits with higher protein and dietary fiber content could be prepared by replacing wheat flour with either steamed or defatted wheat germ at a 40% level.