e. ansarifar

Use of wastes such as seeds of summer crops leads to re-enter these valuable sources into the food cycle. Therefore, it causes enhancement of the nutritional values and production of functional foods in food industries. The aim of this study was assessment of the effects of feed composition variables and screw speed on physicochemical and sensory characteristics of breakfast cereals based on cornmeal and wheat flour enriched with melon seeds to achieve optimal results.

In this study, response surface methodology was used to estimate effects of formulation variables, including melon seed flour (10–20%), moisture content (12–20%) and screw speed (120–180 rpm) on expansion ratio, bulk density, hardness, water absorption index, water solubility index and sensory acceptance.

Results showed that increases in melon seed in mixtures of cornmeal and wheat flour increased density and hardness of the extruded snacks while the expansion ratio and water absorption decreased. The optimum conditions for the production of snacks included 10.1% melon seeds, 18% moisture content and 172.39 RPM screw speed.

In Conclusion, breakfast cereals with whole melon seed flour can be suggested as functional foods with nutritional and health benefits. The final product includes desired sensory characteristics and consumer acceptability.

The highconsumption of low nutritional value snacksand malnutrition of children and teenagers are one of the major problems in society. Usually, the small seeds that are in watermelon, although they are rich in nutrients including fatty acids, essential proteins, and many minerals are not used and have been thrown away.

This study was performed on the basis of a rotating central composite design. The effects of extrusion variables including screw speed (120-180 rpm), watermelon powder (10-20%) and feed moisture content (12-20%) on the physicochemical properties (expansion ratio, oil and water absorption index, porosity, and total acceptance) of expanded snack on the basis of corn-wheat flour grits were evaluated.

The results showedthat watermelon flour decreased the expansion coefficient and porosity, however, the interaction effect of screw speed and watermelon flour improved the physicochemical properties of the samples. The increasing screw speed led to a decrease in the viscosity and therefore the expansion coefficient and porosity increased.

The optimization of snack formulation was performed to find the optimum conditions of production. The watermelon flour of 11.31%, feed moisture content of 15.56% and a screw speed of 171.15 rpm were found to be to optimum conditions.