Oatmeal cookies enriched with cactus pear flour as dietary fiber source:: Physical and chemical characteristics

Different cactus pear flour proportions [of 15 (T1), 20 (T2) and 25% (T3)] were added to oatmeal cookies and then studied to determine the effect upon their physical and chemical characteristics. Physical characteristics determined were: color parameters (L*, a*, b*, C*, H*); weight; diameter; height; expansion ratio; textural properties and aw. Chemical characteristics determined were: protein, fat, ash, NNE, dietary fiber, including soluble (FS), insoluble (FI) and total (FT); also calories were determined. The cookies presented a moisture range between 4.55+/-0.33 and 6.69+/-0.8, and aw between 0.353+/-0.02 and 0.453+/-0.05. The total dietary fiber content was greater in T3, being 5.1g/100g (FDT), 3.0 g/100g (FI) and 2.1 g/100g (FS). The color parameters in the surface of the cookie showed no differences between the treatments. The a* value was between 6.93+/-0.86 in T and 5.38+/-4.05 in T3, indicating that the external color of the cookies was not influenced by the green cactus pear flour. The treatment T3 presented a greater ash and dietary fiber content (5.1g/100g) than the other treatments, values which come from this treatment's high proportion of cactus pear. The addition of cactus pear flour in oatmeal cookies considerably increases the dietary fiber content in this type of product and could comprise a part of the daily intake requirements of this nutrient.