Fortification of ready-to-eat extruded snacks with tree bean powder: nutritional, antioxidant, essential amino acids, and sensory properties.

Nutrition-rich extruded snacks were developed from a mixture of cornflour, Bengal gram flour fortified by tree bean (TB) powder (0, 5, and 10%) using a twin-screw extruder. The nutritional, antioxidant, and amino acid profile and structural, functional, and sensory properties of the ready-to-eat (RTE) extruded snacks were evaluated. Ash, protein, and fiber content in TB-fortified extrudates were increased, whereas nitrogen-free extract was decreased. Total phenolics (2.34 mg g-1 FW), ascorbate (2.23 mg g-1 FW), total flavonoids (0.16 mg g-1 FW), and reduced glutathione (8.53 µM g-1 FW) were higher in the extrudates with 10% TB powder. Similarly, RTE extruded snacks fortified by 10% TB exhibited higher DPPH, FRAP, ABTS, hydroxyl radical activities, reducing power, and essential amino acids, such as lysine, leucine, isoleucine, cysteine, threonine, tyrosine, and methionine derived by HPLC. Extrudates fortified by 5% TB powder exhibited better microstructure through scanning electron microscopy. However, 10% TB powder possessed higher physicochemical properties and overall sensory attributes. This study reveals the tremendous industrial potential of nutrient-rich RTE extruded snacks fortified by underutilized TB (10%). Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s13197-021-05251-w. © Association of Food Scientists & Technologists (India) 2021.