Quality Evaluation and Storage Stability of Low-Fat Chin-Chin Formulated with Wheat-Soybean Residue (Okara) Flour Blends Awaiting Galley Proofs - In Production

Abstract

Background: Chin-chin is a traditional wheat flour-based deep-fat fried snack widely consumed across West Africa. In light of escalating public health concerns associated with excessive dietary lipid intake, there is an imperative need to explore alternative processing technologies capable of reducing the fat content of such products while simultaneously enhancing their overall nutritional value.

Aims: The present study aimed to evaluate the physicochemical attributes and storage stability of a nutritionally enriched, low-fat chin-chin snack formulated from wheat–okara composite flour blends processed via air-frying technology.

Material and Methods: Composite flours were prepared by substituting wheat flour with okara at varying incorporation levels (0%, 10%, 20%, 30%, and 100%). The resulting doughs were processed using an air-fryer and subsequently stored under ambient conditions over a 28-day period. Functional, nutritional, and organoleptic properties were systematically evaluated at defined intervals throughout the storage period.

Results: The incorporation of okara flour at progressive substitution levels significantly improved the proximate composition of chin-chin samples in a dose-dependent manner, yielding increases in crude protein (0.8–10.62%), crude fat (15.03–41.47%), and crude fiber (0.21–2.53%) contents. Notably, air-fried samples exhibited a substantially reduced lipid profile and superior protein content relative to their deep-fried counterparts. Mineral concentrations likewise increased proportionally with progressive okara substitution. Over the 28-day storage period, a general trend of increasing moisture content, water activity, peroxide values, and thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) was recorded across all treatments; however, these oxidative and hydrolytic deteriorative changes were significantly more pronounced in the deep-fried control samples.

Conclusions: The incorporation of okara at substitution levels of up to 30% yielded chin-chin products of high sensory acceptability with markedly improved nutritional profiles and reduced lipid content. Air-frying constitutes a technologically viable and health-conscious alternative to conventional deep-fat frying, offering comparable product quality with diminished lipid-associated health risks. These findings advocate for the valorization of okara as a functional food ingredient in the development of nutritionally fortified snack products.

Keywords: Air-Frying; Nutritional Enrichment; Chin-chin; Lipid Reduction; Agro-Industrial By-Product Valorization; Okara; Storage Stability.