Instant porridge based on the extruded mixtures of corn grits and bean flour

A modern life requires fast preparation of healthful and nutritionally valuable food. Therefore, instant food products are often used. In recent years, various instantiation techniques have been developed and it is possible to use different raw materials for instant food production. One of the relatively new technique is the extrusion process. The aim of this study was to produce extruded mixtures of corn grits and bean flour, and investigate the possibility of their application in production of instant porridge. The mixtures of corn grits and bean flour (70:30, 50:50 and 30:70 d.w.b.) with 17% of moisture content were extruded in laboratory single screw extruder Brabender 19/20 DN. After the extrusion, the samples were air-dried overnight at room temperature. Expansion ratio, bulk density and color of obtained extrudates were determined. For the production of instant porridge recipes three different mixtures of spices were used: salt, parsley, pepper, garlic (mixture 1) ; salt, Vegeta, pepper (mixture 2) and salt, celery, pepper, garlic (mixture 3). For the sensory evaluation, instant porridges were prepared with classic procedure of mixing in hot water. Analysis was performed by the panel of 6 trained panelists, and following attributes were rated: color, taste, smell, consistency and aftertaste. The obtained results for the expansion ratio (ER) and bulk density (BD), as a important physical properties which are indirectly related to the degree of structure disturbance, showed that the addition of bean flour to crn grits resulted in decerease of ER and increase of BD. Furthemore, the addition of bean flour and extrusion process resulted in significant color change. By sensory evaluation it was found that the instant porridges based on the extruded mixture of corn:bean 30:70 had very high overall sensory score, where the porridge seasoned with mixture 3 of spices (salt, celery, pepper, garlic) is rated as the best prridge. Finally, it can be concluded the extrusion process can be successfully used for instantiation of corn grits:bean flour mixture, which give a high sensory acceptable products with addition of dfferent spice mixtures.