THE USE OF Moringa oleifera AS VALUE-ADDED INGREDIENT IN BAKERY INDUSTRY

In this study, the nutritional, physicochemical, phytochemical and sensory potential of Moringa flour, composite Moringa/wheat flours in different proportions, and bread obtained from these flours were examined. The nutritional analysis revealed an increase in the mineral content of the bread with the addition of 10% Moringa flour, as well as an increase in protein and fat content. The results obtained show that the maximum mineral and fat contents were recorded in the case of bread with 10% Moringa flour and are 3.89% and 4.93%, respectively. They also show that the addition of moringa flour results in an abundance of micro-and macro-nutrients in composite flour samples and breads depending on the percentage added. The bread containing 2.5% of Moringa flour has values close to the control bread in terms of physical properties: 83.88%, 250.57 cm3/100 g, 93.66% and 0.717 respectively for porosity, volume, elasticity and H/D ratio. The total polyphenol content was between 191.87 and 279.83 mg/100 g and flavonoids between 6.18 and 9.76 mg EQ/100 g. The sensory analysis showed a reluctance of consumers to bread with more than 2.5% of moringa flour. This study reveals that the addition of moringa leaf flour up to 2.5% allows obtaining an elastic bread, acceptable from an organoleptic point of view while improving the nutritional quality without negative effects on the physicochemical characteristics.