Bread from wheat flour partially replaced by fermented chickpea flour: Optimizing the formulation and fuzzy analysis of sensory data

The use of legume flours to supplement a staple food like wheat bread has immense potential, particularly in developing countries to increase the dietary intake of high quality protein. The study aimed to develop a functional wheat bread with fermented chickpea flour (FCF). The solid state fermentation conditions (1-2% yeast extract) of chickpea flour were studied upto 5 days. The minimum phytic acid content with a maximum free amino acids was obtained at 1.4% yeast extract when the flour was fermented for 83 h. The amount of FCF as a replacement of wheat flour (WF) was optimized further using D-optimal mixture design. The three constituents varied in the formulations were WF (67-94.5%), FCF (5-30%) and xanthan gum (0.5-3%), respectively. The responses analyzed were hardness, total color change in both crust and crumb, and specific loaf volume of the bread. The numerically optimized proportion in mass fraction of WF: FCF: xanthan gum was 80:18:2 having the desirability value of 0.73. Concomitantly, fuzzy analysis of the same combinations affirmed the suitability of the optimized formulation, as reflected by the similarity value (0.745).