Effect of virgin coconut oil cake on physical, textural, microbial and sensory attributes of muffins

A study was carried out to develop muffins by substituting refined wheat flour (RWF) with virgin coconut oil (VCO) cake (0-50 g/100 g flour blend). Progressive replacement of RWF with VCO cake resulted in significant (P < 0.05) decrease in peak viscosity of flour blends (from 2527.75 cP in the control to 389.5 cP in 50 g VCO cake/100 g flour blend) and the muffins height (from 34.26 mm in the control to 26.88 mm in 50 g VCO cake/100 g flour blend). Significant colour change was observed in the crust and crumb regions. Free fatty acid and microbial analysis revealed that the quality of muffin samples was unaffected by the addition of VCO cake during 16-day storage at both refrigerated (4 +/- 2 degrees C) and ambient temperature (35 +/- 2 degrees C). Incorporation of 40 g VCO cake/100 g flour blend significantly (P < 0.05) increased the overall acceptability of the muffins (with a maximum score of 8.5). Muffins with 40 g VCO cake/100 g flour blend were enriched with protein (8.49 g/100 g), fat (18.46 g/100 g), crude fibre (1.14 g/100 g) and minerals (1.15 g/100 g).