Chhavi Verma, Anisha Verma, Sadhna Singh, Pragya Pandey, Atul Yadav and Archna Yadav
Abstract
The present study was undertaken to develop and standardize functional muffins enriched with beetroot peel powder (BPP), an agro-industrial by-product rich in betalains, dietary fiber, and essential minerals. Refined wheat flour (RWF) was partially substituted with BPP at 0% (T0), 20% (T1), 30% (T2), and 40% (T3) levels, and the formulations were evaluated for sensory attributes and proximate nutritional composition. Sensory evaluation conducted by ten semi-trained panelists using a nine-point hedonic scale revealed that the T2 formulation (30% BPP substitution) received the highest scores for colour/appearance (8.6±0.23), taste/flavour (8.5±0.23), body/texture (8.4±0.20), and overall acceptability (7.9±0.64), with statistically significant differences (p dâ 0.05) observed among all treatments. Proximate analysis of the optimized T2 muffins recorded crude protein (14.13±0.28%), crude fibre (1.94±0.04%), fat (21.38±0.11%), iron (2.13±0.05 mg/100g), beta-carotene (3.69±0.25 mg/100g), carbohydrate (37.61±0.46%), and energy value (400±1.59 kcal/100g), reflecting a significantly improved nutritional profile compared to conventional muffins. The T2 formulation (RWF: BPP = 70:30) was identified as the optimum, achieving the best balance between sensory acceptability and nutritional enrichment. These findings establish that beetroot peel powder can be effectively valorized as a cost-effective, sustainable, and health-promoting functional ingredient for bakery product development, contributing to agro-industrial waste reduction and dietary quality improvement