Influence of whey protein concentrate and potato starch on rheological properties and baking performance of Indian water chestnut flour based gluten free cookie dough

•Addition of whey protein concentrate and potato starch increased viscoelasticity of cookie dough.•Water chestnut cookie dough resulted in soft, viscous, deformable dough.•Whey protein concentrate and potato starch in cookies decreased hardness and increased spread ratio.•Cookies containing whey protein concentrate and potato starch had higher overall acceptability.

In present study influence of whey protein concentrate (WPC) and potato starch (PS) on the production of water chestnut flour (WCF) based gluten free cookie dough its rheological properties and their effect on quality of gluten free cookies was studied. The WPC was used to replace, 5, 7.5 and 10 g/100 g of WCF in gluten free formulations. Cookie dough of 100 g/100 g WCF and WF served as a control samples. Oscillatory and creep measurements were applied to test the effect of WPC and PS on the viscoelasticity of gluten free cookie dough. Frequency sweep results indicated that samples containing WPC had solid elastic-like characteristics. An increase in WPC increased storage modulus and zero shear viscosity while there was a decrease in tan δ and maximum creep compliance, an addition of WPC and PS increased dough tenacity and resistance to deformation. Cookie dough containing WPC between 7.5 g/100 g and 10 g/100 g replacement level showed similar strength and extensibility as wheat cookie dough. The results of physical and sensory evaluation of gluten free cookies showed addition of WPC increased cookie hardness, fracturability, spread ratio and overall acceptability, as evaluated by trained panellist.