Develop nutritious snack bar using micronized flaked lentils.

Lentils are 25% protein. They are second only to soybeans as a source of usable protein. An excellent source of vitamin A, lentils also provide fiber, potassium, B vitamins and iron. Unlike meat, poultry, fish and eggs, this protein source contains no cholesterol and virtually no fat. However, lentils must be teamed with a grain, such as rice, pasta, or barley, to complete and enhance their protein availability to the body.

Micronization, an infrared heat treatment, and flaking, a flattening procedure done after micronization, are processes that enable us to replace oats with lentils in snack bar formulations. Lentils contain less fat, more iron, fiber, protein and folate than oats. Being able to substitute lentils for oats will benefit women of child-bearing age who are seeking greater levels of folate intake and will generally be a nutritional benefit to all of us.

The objective of Canadian researchers was to determine the consumer acceptability and sensory characteristics of snack bars made by partially replacing oats with micronized flaked lentils (MFLs). The investigators selected six MFL bar formulations--LB1 to LB6--to represent a range of flavors and textures.

Sixty-two women from 18 to 35 years of age who consume snack bars tasted the six lentil bar samples and two commercial samples, CB1 and CB2. A nine-point hedonic scale was used to measure acceptability. Eleven panelists were trained to evaluate four flavor and seven texture attributes on a 15-cm line scale.

Scientists found that CB1 and CB2 had the highest mean acceptability values corresponding to "like moderately." LB5 had a mean acceptability value corresponding to "neither like nor dislike." All of the other lentil bars had a mean value of 6: "like slightly." Plotting the first two factors from principal component analysis showed that LB5 tended to have a grainy, lentil flavor with chewy texture, and it adhered to teeth.

Based on these results it seems feasible to produce snack bars made from MFLs that are acceptable to women 18 to 35 years of age. Relating acceptability scores with flavor and texture characteristics promise a better understanding of what this consumer group finds acceptable in nutritious snack bars.

Further information. S. D. Arntfield, Department of Food Science, 201 Ellis Building, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB R3T 2N2 Canada; phone: [phone]; email: [e-mail].