Optimization of Groundnut Meal and Capsicum Juice for Protein and Antioxidant Rich Pasta

The present study was carried out to optimize the level of groundnut meal, capsicum juice and refined wheat flour for the development of pasta with enhanced protein and antioxidant activity using response surface methodology. Box–Behnken design of experiments was used for designing different experimental combinations considering groundnut meal from 10 to 20 g, capsicum juice from 14 to 30 mL and refined wheat flour from 80 to 90 g, respectively. Antioxidant activity and phenolics content were increased with increasing level of groundnut meal and capsicum juice in the samples. Pasta samples having higher level of groundnut meal showed higher protein contents. Conversely, the pasta samples with higher capsicum juice showed high rehydration ratio with low solid loss. The colour and cooking quality of pasta samples was also affected with different levels of groundnut meal, capsicum juice and refined wheat flour. Optimization was done to obtain the best experimental combination for development of groundnut meal and capsicum juice for developing pasta with enhanced protein and antioxidant activity. Optimized groundnut meal and capsicum fortified pasta consisted of 20 g groundnut meal, 30 mL capsicum juice and about 89.99 g refined wheat flour. The total protein content, phenolics content and antioxidant activity in pasta with optimized formulation were 17.81 %, 342.27 mg/100 g and 18.12 %, respectively with overall sensory acceptability as 8.73. This pasta sample showed 4.71 min cooking time, 2.57 rehydration ratio and 2.42 % solid loss with overall desirability of 0.879. © 2016, NAAS (National Academy of Agricultural Sciences).