Development and Quality Characteristics of Sugar and Fat Free Muffins Utilising Stevia and Chia Mucilage

Cake is a popular bakery product consumed by almost everyone due to its low economic cost and shelflife, however, it is recognised unhealthy because of high fat and sugar contents. The aim of this study was to evaluate physicochemical and sensory properties of muffins baked using 100% of sugar and fat replacement as stevia sweetener (rebaudioside A and erythritol) and chia seed mucilage, respectively. The combination of sweetener with chia gel (SCC) had the highest moisture content, while the replacement of fat in muffin (CC) revealed similarity to the control in lightness and redness values. There was also no significant difference in terms of firmness when only the sweetener was replaced (SC). While the control muffin obtained the highest overall acceptability score, the lowest score was observed in CC. Thus, muffins with reduced fat and sugar contents can benefit the consumer in terms of health, but further optimisation of formulations for both replacers is needed for better sensory acceptance