Degree of roasting of carob flour affecting the properties of gluten-free cakes and cookies.

Carob flour is a product rich in fibre obtained from by-products of the locust bean gum extraction processing. The flour is commercialised with different degrees of roasting in order to improve its organoleptic characteristics. In this study, carob flour with three different roasting degrees was used to replace rice flour (15%) in gluten-free cakes and cookies. The influence of this replacement was studied on the psychochemical characteristics and acceptability of the final products. The incorporation of carob flour increased the viscosity of cake batters and increased the solid elastic-like behaviour of the cookie doughs, indicating a stronger interaction among the formula ingredients. The inclusion of carob flour, with a low time of roasting, did not lead to any significant differences in the specific volume and hardness of the cakes, but reduced cake staling and the thickness and width of the cookies. Darker colours were obtained when carob flour was incorporated into the product. The acceptability of cakes was only reduced with the addition of highly roasted carob flour, while in the case of cookies there was a decline in the acceptability of all carob flour cookies, which was mostly perceived with the highest roasting degree, something mainly attributed to the bitter taste of the products.