Whole Grain Gluten-Free Vegetable Savory Snacks

Gluten-free savory snacks were formulated and evaluated to offer nutritious treats for all and healthy option for gluten intolerance individuals. Four kinds of savory snacks (gluten-free, whole grains with fresh vegetables, low in fat and salt) were developed using base formulation (BF) of brown rice flour (45%), sorghum flour (20%), tapioca flour (7%), mashed potato (8%), canola oil (6%), guar gum (2%), baking powder (1.5%) and salt (0.5%). Fresh vegetables (carrots, broccoli, spinach, and red onion) were chopped and mixed with the base formulation (1:1). Chopped fresh garlic (5%) was added to carrot, broccoli and spinach (base-vegetable mix, BFV). Snack dough was prepared using 100 mL water per 100 g BFV. Two portions of snack dough (about 10 g each) were placed on the preheated KrumKake Baker and cooked for 2 minutes. Sixty two in-house volunteers judged Broccoli-Garlic snacks as significantly (p ? 0.05) better in color/appearance than Carrot-Garlic, Spinach-Garlic and Red Onion savory snacks. A 30 g serving of these low salt, low fat healthy snacks would provide 5-7% of daily recommended dose of dietary fiber and potassium. This is the first report of developed whole grain gluten-free, 50% vegetable snacks. Texture and water activity of the developed snacks suggests the crispiness and potential long shelf stability. Tasters judged Carrot-Garlic (88%), Broccoli-Garlic (77%), Spinach-Garlic (68%) and Red Onion (65%) acceptable. Data suggest that the acceptability of gluten-free whole grain vegetable savory snacks is very encouraging and offers healthy alternative for all and especially for those sensitive to gluten.