Fructooligosaccharide – Retention during baking and its influence on biscuit quality

Biscuits are the popular category of bakery products which have the potential to act as
vehicles for delivering nutritional benefits. Addition of the prebiotic ingredient fructooligosaccharide
(FOS) is found to provide both nutritional and technological advantages in
biscuits. The fate of FOS in the biscuit matrix and the retention level at which the proposed
benefits are achieved are of interest. Here, the objective is to study the retention of added
FOS after baking, correlate the retention studies with quality parameters of biscuits such as
texture and organoleptic properties, and also with the microstructure and in vitro starch
digestion characteristics of the experimental biscuits. The suitable physical form of FOS
that confers the intended functionality in the biscuit matrix was also determined. It was
observed that the retention of FOS increased with their increasing initial levels. At higher
levels, FOS affected texture of biscuits due to disruption of gluten matrix as confirmed by
the microstructure analysis. The residual FOS in the biscuit after baking reduced the
glucose released during in vitro starch digestion at the same level of its retention.