Abstract:
Rice (Oryza sativa) is the staple food of Sri Lankans and more than 60% of the global population
which directly supply more than 42% of calories consumed by the entire human population.
As staple foods, rice provides a greater proportion of carbohydrate, dietary fiber and protein. In
addition, rice is a rich source of vitamin B , vitamin E and minerals, such as calcium, magnesium,
iron, zinc and phosphorus. Rice and rice products provide a large number of phytochemicals and
antioxidants, which exert protection against gastrointestinal cancers and cardiovascular diseases.
Therefore, a research was conducted to assess the nutritional and sensory qualities of biscuits
supplemented with brown and white rice flour of selected varieties namely Suwandel, At 309 and
Bg 94-1. Rice bran has better nutritional value therefore the biscuits were prepared using whole
grain rice flour with 1:2 proportion of brown rice and white rice flour. For the preparation of
biscuits, sugar and margarine were mixed to produce a creamy mixture. Then, the rice flour, baking
powder, corn flour, margarine, sunflower oil, brown sugar, salt, and vanilla essence were added
and thoroughly mixed to form a consistent hard dough. The dough was spread, cut into circular
shapes of 4cm diameter and baked in an oven at 180℃ for 25 minutes. The baked products were
stored in metallized laminated pouches under ambient conditions of 30℃ and 70-80% RH for 2
months. During the storage period, the biscuits were subjected to nutritional and sensory analysis
at 2 weeks intervals. The sensory evaluation was carried out by 30 experienced panelists using a 7-
point hedonic scale. Results revealed that the biscuits which were prepared with Suwandel
obtained the highest overall acceptability value of 6.88+0.21 compared to other varieties.
Nutritional analysis proved that the biscuits made with Suwandel rice variety had the highest fiber,
protein and ash contents of 1.83%, 6.28% and 1.41%, respectively and Bg 94-1 variety poses the
highest fat content of 12.3%. Based on the nutritional and sensory evaluation, biscuits prepared
from Suwandel rice variety was considered as the best among the tested rice varieties.