Incorporation of Spirulina (Athrospira platensis) in Traditional Egyptian Cookies as a Source of Natural Bioactive Molecules and Functional Ingredients: Preparation and Sensory Evaluation of Nutrition Snack for School Children

Abstract

Spirulina (Athrospira platensis) is very rich in protein, amino acids, fatty acids, vitamins and minerals and its incorporation into foods will enrich their nutritional values. The objectives of this study were to incorporate spirulina into traditional Egyptian cookies as a source of natural bioactive molecules and to evaluate the effect of the amount of added spirulina on their sensory properties (texture, shred, color, odor and taste) and acceptability using a panel of 10 members. The results indicated that addition of spirulina to the cookies affected the texture, the mouth feel, the easiness with which breaking a cookie was made, the fragmentation and the appearance of the break line.  The cookies that received no spirulina had smoother texture and moist-smooth mouth feel whereas those received spirulina had more sandy-course texture and heavy-chewy mouth feel. Increasing spirulina content from 5 to 15% made the cookies more firm and harder to break. Irregular large parts and continuous break lines were observed with the cookies that received no spirulina while more granules and smaller parts with irregular line were observed with all the cookies that received spirulina. The results showed that adding spirulina to cookies may help maintain their integrity and reduce breakage during packaging and distributions. The color of the cookies that received no spirulina was yellow to yellow-orange and that of the cookies that received 5 and 10% spirulina was yellow- green to green-yellow-green while that of the cookies received 15% spirulina was green-yellow-green to green-blue-green. All the baked cookies had a noticeable smell and the odor intensity ranged from faint to strong. Increasing the spirulina content from 5 to 15% (3-fold) increased the odor intensity by 19.6%. The nature of the smell of the cookies that received 0 and 5% spirulina was pleasant while that of the cookies that revived 10 and 15% spirulina was musty-seawater and fishy-seawater, respectively. The addition of spirulina affected both the taste and the degree of acceptance. The taste of the cookies that received no spirulina was sweet-delicious with a high degree of acceptance while the taste of the cookies that received spirulina varied from sweet-sour to bitter-fishy with lower degree of acceptance. Adding 5% spirulina did not affect the smell or the taste. However, addition of a flavoring agent to cookies having higher spirulina contents (10-15%) may be required to musk the smell and taste of spirulina. The results showed that addition of spirulina enhanced the nutritional value of the cookies by increasing the protein content of the cookies and enriching them with vitamins, mineral, omega fatty acids and amino acids, all of which have significant health benefits to school children. Therefore, a further work should be directed towards improving the smell and the taste of spirulina cookies.