Maize cob as dietary fiber source for high-fiber biscuit

The potential use of maize cob as source of dietary fiber, for high-fiber biscuits was investigated in this work. Dry maize cob was boiled, meshed, dried, milled and sieved to obtain the soft fraction of maize cob (SFMC) which was incorporated into a master mix of biscuit at 50 g, 100 g and 150 g to produce high-fiber biscuit samples B, C and D respectively. Sample A served as control which contained no maize cob fiber. The maize cob was analyzed for proximate composition, dietary fiber and antinutritional contents while the biscuits samples were analyzed for Total carbohydrate and mineral (Mg, Zn, Fe, Ca, P) contents. The biscuits samples were subjected to sensory evaluation with another set (E, F G) that contained the same levels of wheat bran incorporation. Results showed that the maize cob contained 2.79 %, 78.53 % and 81.32 %, of soluble, insoluble and total dietary fiber respectively. It contained 0.59 % protein, 1.83 % fat and less than 1 mg/100 g of all the anti-nutrients analyzed except saponins (2.23 mg/100 g).The maize cob caused significant reduction in total carbohydrate and in all the minerals analyzed as well as significant increase in soluble, insoluble and total dietary fibers among the biscuit samples. The sensory result showed that the biscuits containing maize cob were preferred in colour but were the same in flavor and crispness when compared with that containing wheat bran.