Evaluation of potentiality of erythritol on improving the physicochemical, functional, and pasting properties, along with the storability of multigrain flour using chemometric approach

The rising demand for gluten-free, non-sucrose-based food products has originated the concept of incorporation of polyol in composite flour to fulfill multiple health benefits. In this study, the multigrain (MG) flour was prepared from roasted maize, Bengal gram, pearl millet, and finger millet and the effect of the addition of erythritol on the physicochemical, functional, and pasting properties of MG flour was investigated. Increasing erythritol incorporation level from 0 to 70% in MG flour resulted in a significant increase in bulk density (BD) from 0.88 to 1.27 g/cc, water absorption index (WAI) from 2.99 to 3.28 g/g, water solubility index (WSI) from 9.07 to 9.30%, foaming capacity (FC) from 10.44 to 10.56%, and reduction in oil absorption capacity (OAC), peak viscosity, and final viscosity from 2.11 to 1.82 g/g, 626 to 237 cP, and 499.3 to 208.4 cP, respectively. The linear Pearson correlation described that there was a significant positive correlation between moisture content and water activity (r = 0.755), WAC and WAI (r = 0.873), WAC and WSI (r = 0.891), and WAI and WSI (r = 0.915). From the principal component analysis (PCA) and hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA), it was confirmed that the MG flour with 20-40% erythritol showed non-significant (p > 0.05) variation in the functional properties (WAI, WAC, OAC, and FC) up to 5 months under ambient conditions (30 +/- 5 degrees C and 50-60% relative humidity). Hence, the above recommended levels of erythritol signify their potentiality for application of manufacturing good quality bakery and extruded products, especially for diabetic people.