Dietary supplementation of black cumin (Nigella sativa) meal in the formulation of protein‐enriched cookies, further in vivo evaluation of protein quality with physicochemical and organoleptic characterization

has solid historical importance as a medicinal herb and is widely used in the bakery industry. The study revealed that the defatted black cumin meal (DBCM) possesses a high nutritious composition and amino acid profile, such as Leu, Lys, Arg, Phe, and Glu. The supplementation effect of wheat flour with defatted black cumin meal (DBCM) at levels of 5%-25% was explored on the cookies' nutritional, functional, and organoleptic attributes. Moreover, the present work was conducted to assess the in vivo protein quality of defatted black cumin meal (DBCM)-supplemented cookies using the albino rat's experimental modeling for 10 days. Rheological characterization suggested a solid elastic behavior for all cookies dough with elevation in