Attempts have been made to improve dough handling properties and quality of legume based snack by incorporating extruded black gram (EBG) flour as partial substitute for raw black gram (RBG) flour. In present work overall quality improvement was achieved by analyzing (a) thermal properties of RBG and EBG flour (b) rheological properties (shear stress, shear rate, storage modulus, loss modulus, deflection angle and complex viscosity) of legume based snack dough and (c) post frying characteristics (colour and texture) of legume based snack. Three different legume based snack samples with different flour formulations (RBG flour, RBG flour incorporated with 25% EBG flour and RBG flour incorporated with 50% EBG flour) were prepared, characterized and compared with standard market sample. Dough exhibited shear thinning behaviour and G' and G″ showed rising behaviour with angular frequency whereas, complex viscosity showed decreasing behaviour. Herschel-Bulkley model was best fitted. Significant changes were observed in values of onset, peak and endset gelatinization temperatures on extraction of black gram flour which improved dough handling properties during papad processing and enhanced organoleptic profile of end product.
Keywords: Black gram flour; Characterization of legume based snack; Dough rheology; Extrusion.