Quality properties of muffins supplemented with rice bran fermentate

In this study, the quality characteristics of muffins supplemented with rice bran fermentate (RBF) were evaluated. Muffin samples were prepared by replacing 3%, 6%, 9%, 12%, and 15% of the total weight with RBF, which had a solid content of 19.13±0.11%. With increasing RBF supplementation, pH decreased from 7.68 to 6.58–7.26, whereas moisture content increased from 26.03% to 28.84%. The baking loss increased from 7.57% in the control to 7.81–8.47% with RBF addition, whereas height, weight, volume, and specific volume decreased. Hardness decreased from 225.88 g to 115.48–198.73 g, accompanied by a corresponding decrease in chewiness (from 207.59 g to 85.22–183.65 g). Springiness and cohesiveness were also lower than in the control. In sensory evaluation, the RBF 6 group received the highest preference scores for appearance, crumb color, aroma, taste, fermentation flavor, and overall acceptability, followed by the control, RBF 9, and RBF 12 groups. Regarding moistness, the control group received the highest preference, whereas the RBF 12 group was most preferred for its grainy flavor. Based on the combined quality characteristics and sensory evaluation results, a RBF 6% substitution level was determined to be optimal for muffin preparation.