Development of low phenylalanine flour for phenylketonuric patient.

Phenylketonuria is an autosomal recessive genetic disorder due to the mutation in
the phenylalanine hydroxylase (PAH) gene which results in the lower level of phenylalanine hydroxylase enzyme, hence the conversion of phenylalanine (Phe) to tyrosine
does not take place and excess Phe takes an alternate pathway to produce phenylketones. This manuscript describes the attempts made toward the development of
a gelatin-based multipurpose flour with other low-cost ingredients as the available
food products for PKU patients in the market are very expensive and affordability
becomes an issue for the patients. The flour is easily bakeable, friable, extrudable,
and can be mixed with an adequate amount of water to make new products. The Phe
content of the sample was 251.8 mg/100 g of flour which was well within the limits,
as recommended by the WHO. The experimentally developed biscuits from the flour
has low Phe content and is suitable for PKU patients. Some of the applications for
proposed low phenylalanine flour for phenylketonuric patient could be as a diet supplement for the patient suffering from PKU. The key advantage of this multipurpose
flour is the low cost of the flour having high nutritional value. The flour can be used
for baking, extrusion, and frying purpose. The functional and sensory properties of
the biscuit formulated from the flour, are in par with commercially available biscuits
indicating its suitability for commercialization. Furthermore, work on improving the
flour quality and other functional properties of the flour can be studied.
Practical applications
The present article focuses on the importance of diet supplement for the patient
suffering from PKU. The important advantage of multipurpose flour is the low cost
of the ingredients and high nutritional value. The functional and sensory properties
were in par with commercially available biscuit indicating its suitability for consumption. Further work on improving the flour quality and other functional properties of
the flour can also be studied.