Effect of corn bran as dietary fiber addition on baking and sensory quality

Development of wholesome and nutritious fiber rich food products with acceptable functional and sensory quality is a major industrial concern, seeking to capture consumer's interest in healthy and functional foods. Dietary fiber in corn bran is known for its beneficial effects on human health and nutrition. The main objective was to develop and characterize cakes with added corn bran to increase the dietary fiber intake in the form of purified fine food-grade corn bran (free of germ and endosperm), a byproduct from the grain milling industry that is a good source of dietary fiber replaced flour in cakes at 0%, 5%, 15%, 20%, 25%, and 30% level. The effects of flour replaced with corn bran on batter viscosity, cake volume, crumbgrain, cake color, cake texture cake were examined. Hardness and springiness of cakes were not affected by the increasing levels of corn bran replacement in cake batter. Flour replaced (20%) by corn bran resulted in cakes with acceptable sensory scores based on texture, taste and overall acceptability of the cakes. This study will provide important information to the food industry developing functional ingredients in baked foods and benefit the baking industry by generating potentially new food products with healthful attributes.