Moroccan carob pulp in food product: Formulation and consumer test

The possibility of using carob as a food source in a "Moroccan context" has been little studied. In this work, carob pulp powder was used in three food products formulations for nutritional enrichment of bread, cake and flakes. Carob pulp was ground into flour and used as ingredient in bread (5, 10 and 12.5%), cake (20.5, 35 and 50%) and flakes at 50%. Seventy six consumers with representative gender-age have given their degree of satisfaction for the overall acceptability and taste for the three new products. Overall acceptability was approved by 85%, 92% and 50% of the consumers respectively for bread, cake and flakes while the taste was appreciated by 76%, 90% and 55% of the consumers. Carob powder could be used as a healthy ingredient for other food preparations, thus contributing to improve the carob value chain.

Keywords: carob pulp powder, nutrition, formulation, food product, consumer test