Effect of Adding Pumpkin-Sweet Potato Powder on Cookie Quality Characteristics, Antioxidant Activity, and Acrylamide Reduction

Abstract

The study was conducted to investigate the quality properties, antioxidant activities, and acrylamide formation of cookies in which wheat flour was replaced with 0%, 2%, 4%, and 8% pumpkin-sweet potato powder. Moisture content showed a tendency to decrease with the increase in the amount of pumpkin-sweet potato powder added. No statistically significant difference was found between the ash, crude protein, and crude fat contents of the cookies in the control group and the group with the addition of 2%∼8% pumpkin-sweet potato powder. Spreadability, leavening rate, loss rate, and pH decreased in proportion to the amount of pumpkin-sweet potato powder added to cookies. The lightness of cookies was reduced, but their redness and yellowness were higher than those in the control and rose proportionally to the amount of pumpkin-sweet potato powder added. Notably, the total polyphenol content also increased with the addition of higher amounts of pumpkin-sweet potato powder. Additionally, we established that compared to the control treatment, the rise in the quality of pumpkin-sweet potato powder added significantly increased the antioxidant activity but reduced the acrylamide contents in proportion to the amount of the addition. From the aforementioned results, we conclude that adding pumpkin-sweet potato powder to cookies increases their antioxidant activity and reduces the amount of acrylamide generated during cooking.