Effect of Pre-Treatment on Selected Nutrient Profile and Functional Properties of Quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa) Flour and Development of Gluten Free Quinoa Cookies

Recent awareness and interest in health and wellness has shifted focus on healthy eating and lifestyle changes among people. Baked products are consumed by all age group people and the consumer demand is increasing towards gluten free products mainly due to the prevalence of celiac disease. Utilization of quinoa flour in the making of cookies has its beneficial and nutraceutical properties and its gluten free nature makes it an excellent snack for celiac disease patients. The objective of the current study is to understand the impact of pre-treatments-dry roasting and germination-on the nutritional and functional properties of quinoa flour and to formulate and assess the cookies prepared from the pre treated quinoa flour. Quinoa seeds were washed and subjected to pre-treatments- roasting and germination. Proximate and functional properties were analyzed for plain, roasted and germinated quinoa flour. Quinoa cookies were prepared using plain, roasted and germinated flour. Physical parameters of the cookies were assessed. Cookies were subjected to sensory analysis. There was a significant difference in the proximate composition and functional properties of the untreated, roasted and germinated quinoa flour. Sensory analysis of the cookies revealed that all the samples ranked similar for all the attributes. The study reveals that there is a possibility for the formulation of gluten free cookies using a pseudo cereal like quinoa which has good nutritional and sensory profile.