Effect of pomegranate peel on physicochemical and antioxidant properties of tortilla chips prepared from germinated corn and mung bean flour

There is increasing demand of innovative functional foods in the market to cure widely prevalent deficiencies observed globally. In line with this issue, the study was aiming to replace existing snacking habits with the healthier ones by using corn and mung bean seeds to produce their respective germinated flours for production of tortilla chips with varied concentrations (5 %, 10 %, 15 %) of pomegranate peel powder (PPP) for enhancing the shelf life of the chips without use of synthetic preservatives. All these variations were then fried at three temperatures 170, 180, 190 degrees C for different times 75 s, 60 s, 45 s, respectively and were then evaluated for their proximate composition, antioxidant properties, sensory properties and shelf life for a period of 40 days. Ash content analysis showed increased content up to 7.6 % for T"1 (with 15 % PPP/170 degrees C). Total antioxidant activity and phenolic content increased with increased peel concentration and decreased with increased frying temperature. After control, the maximum overall acceptability among samples having peel powder was of T2 (with 5 % PPP and fried at 180 degrees C) with score 7.68. However, the peroxide value and free fatty acid value were found minimum for T"3 (with 15 % PPP and fried at 190 degrees C) indicating an extended shelf life.