Physical and Sensory Characteristics of No‐sugar‐added/Low‐fat Muffin

Physical and sensory analyses were performed to evaluate no‐sugar‐added muffins and no‐sugar‐added/low‐fat muffins either with or without xanthan gum. All treatments had significantly higher moisture content, less moisture loss after baking and less volume than a control muffin at either day 1 or 4. The addition of maltodextrin DE ≤ 3 was effective in maintaining the moisture content. Xanthan gum had no influence on the water activity but reduced moisture loss during baking. Texture profile analysis indicated that test muffins were significantly firmer and chewier than the control. Sensory analyses showed that the no‐sugar‐added/low‐fat muffin was significantly higher in taste liking (6.71) than the commercial no‐sugar‐added/low‐fat muffin (6.18). However, the commercial muffin chewiness liking (6.54) was significantly higher than the chewiness liking (5.81) of the no‐sugar‐added/low‐fat muffin.