Revolutionizing fast food: composite flour with finger millet, buckwheat, and black gram

An optimized composite flour was made from pseudo-cereal (buckwheat), finger millet, and legumes (black gram), and pasta was developed from the optimized flour. The D-optimal mixture design was used for the optimization of flour where optimum levels were decided based on desirable functional characteristics that are important for making pasta. Also, the pasta was tested for its overall acceptability based on sensory analysis (hedonic scale), and for its proximate composition i.e. protein, ash, crude fiber, fat, and carbohydrates. The functional properties (bulk density, water/oil absorption, dispersibility, emulsification, swelling index, and foaming capacities) studied for the raw and composite flour, respectively. The results revealed that the composition of the flour had a considerable effect on the functional qualities of the final mix. The linear and quadratic models were the best fit for the results of independent variables. The optimized flour composition with maximum desirability was 57.31% buckwheat, 12.68% finger millet, and 30% black gram flour, respectively. The pasta received better overall acceptance when it was prepared with optimized composite flour and tested using a 9-point hedonic scale.