Fiber enriched reduced sugar muffins made from iso-viscous batters

- Reduced sugar muffins with fiber were prepared from iso-viscous batters.
- Wheat, apple or pea fiber, and rebaudioside A were used as sucrose replacement.
- Viscoelastic properties of batter were measured in temperature sweeps.
- Sucrose reduction alters thermal induced structural changes in muffin batter.
- Product characteristics and in vitro starch digestion of muffins were analyzed.

The application of dietary fiber produced from fruit or vegetable by-products in baked foods is of growing interest for the food industry, providing the possibility for delivering reduced energy/sugar products. The aim of this study was to analyze the potential of sucrose replacement by a combination of rebaudioside A and wheat, apple or pea fiber, and the respective influence on batter and product characteristics. The main focus was on the production of muffins from batters with similar viscosity, the formulation of which was realized by the adaption of water levels in the recipes. Small strain oscillatory measurements of muffin batter with temperature sweeps from 25 to 100 °C revealed that thermally induced structure modifications caused by protein denaturation and starch gelatinization were delayed with increasing replacement of sucrose by fiber. Volume, water activity and crumb firmness increased and in vitro starch digestion decreased with increasing level of fiber incorporation and sugar replacement. Sucrose replacement of 30% by wheat fiber and rebaudioside A resulted in products close to the reference muffin.