Development of ready-to-eat cupcakes with high selenium and zinc content using biofortified refined wheat flour

Abstract

This study aimed to create regular-eating, zinc- and selenium-rich cupcakes by enriching biofortified wheat flour. For this purpose, five ratios of biofortified refined wheat flour containing zinc (FZn) and zinc + selenium (FZnSe) were incorporated into conventional cupcake flour. FZn had a substantially greater zinc content (12.0 mg kg⁻¹ and 4.5 mg kg⁻¹) than cupcake flour. Additionally, the zinc and selenium concentrations of the FZnSe were relatively high (11.54 mg kg⁻¹ and 192.5 μg kg⁻¹). The zinc content of the cupcakes rose by 35.9% and 44.6% (4.46 mg kg⁻¹ to 5.84 mg kg⁻¹) with the implementation of FZn. Following the FZnSe replacements, the zinc content of cupcakes increased from 24.3 to 80.24% (4.03 mg kg⁻¹ and 5.84 mg kg⁻¹) and their selenium content increased from 48.1 to 155.0% (between 62.7 μg kg⁻¹ and 107.9 μg kg⁻¹). All substitutions of FeZnSe cupcakes indicated comparable weight, height, and top and bottom diameters compared to the control cupcakes. Only the cupcakes containing FZn had a 1–2 mm decrease in bottom diameter and a 0.5–1.5 mm increase in height. Apart from the hardness value, the physicochemical properties of biofortified cupcakes were mostly similar to control. Almost all sensory attribute scores for both cakes resembled those of the control cupcakes.