Development of multigrain premixes-its effect on rheological, textural and micro-structural characteristics of dough and quality of biscuits.

Four different Multigrain Premixes (MGPs) namely MGP I, MGP II, MGP III, MGP IV were developed to select the best premix for preparation of biscuits based on nutritional value and biscuit quality. The MGPs were prepared using cereals (barley, sorghum, maize, oats), pulses (chickpea dhal, green gram, peas, soya flour), millets (pearl millet, finger millet) and wheat germ each at 20 % level. The MGPs developed had 22.91-27.84 % protein, 16.82-18.72 % dietary fiber and 3.11-3.46 % minerals. The wheat flour was replaced with MGPs separately at different levels of 10, 20, 30, 40 and 50 %. The incorporation of these MGPs significantly (p ≤ 0.05) decreased the water absorption (56.0-50.9 %), peak viscosity (273.67-154.92 RVU), biscuit spread ratio (10.28-8.15) and increased the pasting temperature (67.10-79.20 °C), dough hardness (311.66-460.26 N) and biscuit breaking strength (13.25-28.68 N). SEM studies showed that incorporation of MGP disrupted the protein matrix. Among the MGPs, MGP III was found to be more suitable even at the 40 % level for obtaining nutritious multigrain biscuits with higher protein, dietary fiber, and mineral content.