Abstract:
Mung bean or green gram ( Vigna radiata L.) is a popular legume consumed in Sri Lanka. It is generally eaten either
whole in boiled form or as a dhal curry (without seed coat) or as bean sprouts or used to make traditional sweet
dishes. Sprouts are biologically conducive and one of the most complete and nutritional food items. Nowadays, there
is a trend to formulate foods with cereal flour to raise their nutritional value, because foods with only wheat flour give
more health complications. This study was carried out to evaluate the feasibility of incorporating sprouted mung
bean flour into wheat-rice blend to prepare a biscuit with an adequate nutritional profile. Four different treatments
were applied to make biscuits in four different mixing ratios of MF, RF and WF (T0, T„T2 and T3). Therein, wheat flour
(WF) in wheat-rice blend was substituted with 0%, 10%, 20% and 30% of sprouted mung bean flour (MF) while rice
flour (RF) remains as constant 40%. MF was prepared by drying sprouted de-hulled beans in a hot air oven at 60 °C
followed by grinding and sieving through 20mm mesh size. Prepared biscuits of each treatment were separately
packed in polyethylene bags 80 pm, sealed in Aluminium foils 40 pm covered by polyethylene 80 pm and sealed in
polyethylene 80 pm placed in tightly closed plastic containers. Above samples were stored at room temperature (28°C
- 3 0°C) for three months. The Samples were subjected to proximate analysis, sensory evaluation and microbial test in
order to determine nutritive value, palatability and shelf life respectively of the biscuits after 1 week, 6 weeks and 1 2
weeks of storage. The protein and fiber content were high in biscuits samples more MF. Sensory evaluation revealed
that wheat flour could be substituted with MF up to 20%, without disturbing to their overall acceptability. It was found
that sealed in Aluminium foil covered by polyethylene packaging condition was best to assured sensory qualities of
the biscuits while maintaining their yeast and mould counts below 100 cfu/g. The production cost confined to Rs. 520
per kg of biscuits, prepared by WF+RF blend substituted with 20% MF.
