Abstract:
Coconut based products becoming popular in Sri Lanka. Nevertheless, less protein
content of coconut impairs the nutritional quality of such products. Soy protein powder is
rich in high-quality protein and it improves the texture, taste, and colour of food. This
study was conducted to develop protein rich cookie using desiccated coconut and soy
protein isolate powder as main ingredients. Three treatments of cookies were prepared in
triplicates by incorporating desiccated coconut and soy protein isolate in the amounts of
42.4:4.7, 37.7:9.4 and 33:14.1 % (w/w) respectively and using fixed quantities of sugar,
brown rice syrup, vanilla, salt, sodium bicarbonate, and water. Cookies were baked at
105°C for 2-3 hours. Sensory properties of cookies were evaluated by a sensory panel
consisting of 30 untrained panelists using a 9-point Hedonic scale. Crude protein, total
fat, free fatty acid, sugar, and moisture contents of the selected sample were analysed.
Sensory data were analysed by Friedman test (p<0.05) using Minitab 18 version. The
organoleptic characteristics evaluated were colour, texture, aroma, taste, and overall
acceptability. As per the sensory results, cookie prepared 70g desiccated coconut, and 30g
of soya protein isolate was selected as the best. This product contained 18.5% protein,
34% of total fat, 21.5% of sugar, 0.9% of free fatty acid, and 0.45% of moisture. It can be
concluded that protein rich cookie with better sensory properties can be prepared by
incorporating desiccated coconut and soy protein isolate at 70:30 ratio respectively.
Keywords: Desiccated coconut (DC), Soy protein isolate powder, Protein content.
