Development and characterization of high nutritional value snack bar as a complementary source of nutrients in supporting the growth of pregnant women: chemical, physical, and sensory properties

Developing high nutritional value pregnant bar products as a source of different nutrients to support daily-consumed poor is considered a practical goal to increase pregnant crucial nutrient intake. This research aims to develop high nutritional snack bar as a complementary to support the nutrient requirements in pregnant women using a mixture of grains (chickpea and quinoa flours) along with wheat flour in addition to chia seeds, inulin, moringa leaves powder, anise, mastic and stevia. This study was conducted in two stages. Seven treatments of quinoa and chickpea flour levels in the ratio of (1:2) with wheat flour were produced. Proximate analysis, physical proprieties, color analysis, and sensory evaluation tests were determined. This highly nutritional snack bar has larger contents of protein, fiber, lipids, and ash, as well as lower amounts of moisture and carbohydrate content compared to wheat flour control. Moreover, physical properties: snack bar samples’ weight, diameter and thickness decreased as the concentration of chickpea and quinoa flours increased. The results of the color analysis showed that there were significant differences in lightness (L*), redness (a*), and yellowness (b*) values between the control and the seven snack bar treatments, which showed lower lightness (L*) and yellowness (b*) color values and higher redness (a*) color values. Regarding the sensory evaluation, the most accepted treatment was treatment 7, which had 47.5% wheat flour, 35% chickpea flour, and 17.5% quinoa flour. Developing a high-nutrient-value snack bar as a complementary source of nutrients to support and cover most pregnant women’s nutrient requirements, maintaining necessary daily needs with controlled calorie intake and high quality and acceptability.