Adeoye, B.K.*, Alao, A.I. and Famurewa, J.A.V.

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Biscuits are consumed extensively all over the world as snack foods and on a large scale in developing countries where protein and caloric malnutrition are prevalent. There is increase in the advocacy on the consumption of functional foods by world nutrition bodies due to different health problems related to food consumption. This study therefore aimed at investigating the nutritional quality of pineapple peel flour (PPF) and wheat flour blends containing functional ingredients, such as high dietary fibre, proteins, minerals and vitamin. Dried pineapple peel was incorporated into wheat flour at different blend ratios (90:10, 80:20, 70:30, 60:40 and 50:50) and used to prepare biscuits, while buscuits prepared with flour without pineapple peel flour served as the control. The samples were subjected to chemical, functional, microbiological and mineral analyses using standard methods. There was an increase in oil and water absorption properties as the ratio of pineapple peel flour increased in the blends. Except for carbohydrate content which decreased with increase in pineapple peel flour, proximate composition increased on pineapple flour addition. Similarly, calcium, potassium, sodium, iron and copper contents increased in the biscuits. Sensory evaluation indicated that the mean scores for taste, colour, crispness, aroma and overall acceptability were generally high for all the cookies. However, biscuits made from 90:10 wheat-PPF flour had the highest mean scores for all parameters evaluated and were close to 100% wheat cookies. This indicates the feasibility of producing nutritious biscuits with desirable organoleptic qualities from wheat flour and PPF. Key words: biscuits, dietary fibre, wheat flour, pineapple peel flour, nutritional quality, minerals