EFFECT OF ACORN FLOUR SUBSTITUTION ON ARABIC BREAD PROPERTIES

Arabic bread (AB) is the most common type of bread that consumed in the Middle East countries. It is prepared from white wheat flour which considered to have a low nutritive value. Acorn kernel flour (AKF) is produced from oak acorn Quercus aegilops (Malloul) which is available in Jordan and it is rarely utilized in the human diet. Wheat flour (WF) was substituted with different concentrations of AKF (5, 10 and 15%) to formulate the acorn kernel bread (AKB). The physicochemical and sensory properties of the AKB produced were evaluated and compered with wheat bread (WB) as control. The results indicated that the substitution of WF by AKF will affect the rheological characteristics of the dough as it assessed by the farinograph. It has been found that the water absorption of the WF dough was 57.8% and it increased as AKF substitution increased. Additionally, both of arrival time and dough development time were decreased and dough stability was increased as AKF substitution was increased. The results indicated that the AKB has a high fiber content that gives a healthy nutritional advantage compared with WF bread without substituting with AKF. The AKB has lesser white and darker as increasing of the AKF substitution percentage compared with WB. The AKF addition did not affect the firmness of the bread one hour after baking, but the freshness reduced by increasing of AKF substitution after 24 hours when assessed by penetrometer. The overall quality in term of sensorial attributes showed that substitution by AKF up to 15% results in product like that of wheat bread. It can be concluded from the above results, that substitution of WF by AKF up to 15%, can permit economic benefits in terms of reducing the importation of wheat and help exploring certain untapped plant products of high nutritional value as acorn.