Impact of chickpea aquafaba-based emulsion on the physicochemical, nutritional, rheological and structural characteristics of little millet (Panicum sumatrense Roth.) flour cake

Abstract

Recent patterns in food consumption indicate that consumers have a strong desire for vegan, gluten-free, and healthy diets. This study investigates the utility of chickpea aquafaba and little millet flour (LMF) as alternatives to egg and refined flour, respectively, for developing egg-free and gluten-free cake recipes. The cake and batter were analyzed for their physicochemical, structural, sensorial, rheological and textural properties, with a shelf-life study conducted over a period of 12 days (30 ± 2 °C). The batter's density (1.13 ± 0.01 g cm⁻³) and viscosity (15796.7 ± 0.09 cp) increased with the addition of LMF, and the batter predominantly exhibited an elastic behavior with G′ > G′′ for all cake formulations. These characteristic changes in cake batter caused the cake's weight to increase (by 10%) while causing its height, baking loss, volume, specific volume and symmetry index to decrease. The textural characteristics showed that adding LMF to cakes enhanced the hardness (145.00 ± 9.45 N) and firmness (19.36 ± 2.12 N) and decreased their cohesion, chewiness, gumminess, springiness and resilience. The image analysis showed more uniform bubble distribution in wheat flour (WF) cake than in LMF cakes, and an increase in LMF content resulted in a drop in cell circularity. The microbial degradation of cakes was observed from the 6th day of storage. LMF cake samples exhibited good texture and physical and sensory attributes comparable to those of the WF cake sample. Therefore, the study demonstrated the potential use of alternative ingredients, such as LMF and aquafaba emulsion, in the production of egg-free and gluten-free cakes. These ingredients could facilitate the scaling up of sustainable production practices for baked goods in the future.