Processing of gluten-free cupcakes utilizing plant-based Lepidium sativum seed mucilage as a fat replacer

Introduction: Consumers are sticking to nutritional guidelines on fat consumption and demanding healthier gluten-free food products, resulting in pressure on industries to produce such food products. This study aims to develop the process of making gluten-free cupcakes by substituting wheat flour with a gluten-free composite flour blend and traditional butter with seed mucilage.

Methods: Gluten-free cupcakes (GFCs) were developed using the composite flour blend (amaranth, barnyard, and soyabean flours at 1:1:1). Lepidium sativum seed mucilage (LSM) mimics fat's properties; it was extracted using centrifugation–separation technology. The GFCs were optimized through a one-factor at a time (OFAT) optimization technique to see the effect of LSM as a single variable when used in different proportions: 0%, 25%, 50%, 75%, and 100%. The 100%-fat-replaced GFCs were further evaluated for moisture, ash, protein, fat, fiber, and carbohydrate content (AOAC 2023), fatty acid profiling (GC-FID), and sensory evaluation (on a 9-point hedonic scale), and various health lipid indices were also calculated.

Results: The replacement of 100% fat in the GFCs shows a reduction of 88.74% in fat. The optimized product has moisture% = 26.31±0.07, ash% = 1.45±0.13, protein = 8.43±0.07 gm/100 gm, fat = 2.19±0.23 gm, fiber = 4.28±0.12 gm, and carbohydrate = 39.83±0.09 gm. The fatty acid profiling comparison of GFCs with butter and 100% of the fat substituted shows values for UFA:SFA = (2.3:1)(1.95:1), PUFA:SFA = (0.66:1)(1.02:1), and omega 6:omega 9 = (0.34:1)(1.1:1), respectively. An optimized GFC has an atherogenicity-index = (0.78), a thrombogenic index = (1.06), a health-promoting index = (1.36), and a ∆desaturase-index = (16) (0.022), which indicates good values, while the overall sensory acceptability is 8.2±0.21.

Conclusion: This study indicates that optimized GFCs with incorporated composite flour and 100% of the fat replaced by LSM had an improved overall proximate, sensory, and nutritional matrix. Thus, the results demonstrate the possible potential of these ingredients to improve functionality, consumer acceptance, and industrial applications.