Optimization of butter fruit incorporated fat spread using instrumental textural analysis: a response surface methodology

The textural properties are crucial in grabbing the consumer attention and thus influencing their preferences and buying decisions for food products. Firmness, work of shear and stickiness are textural attributes which are commonly used to describe the spread’s quality, as well as to predict consumer acceptance. In this study, investigations were undertaken to find the effect of different levels of butter fruit pulp, skim milk powder and xanthan gum on textural attributes of fat spread and to determine their optimum levels. Face-centered central composite design with six replicates at the centre point was used to develop predictive models for instrumental textural attributes. The experimental range of the input variables used in the design were 5–15% for butter fruit pulp, 0.1–0.4% for xanthan gum and 6–12% for skim milk powder. The optimum levels of ingredients obtained according to the target values were as follows: 15% (butter fruit pulp), 0.20% (xanthan gum) and 8.61% (skim milk powder).