Development of an Iron- and Folic Acid-Fortified Snack Bar Based on Local Food Ingredients: Sensory Evaluation and Characterization of the Selected Formula

Anemia among adolescent girls is a nutritional problem that needs to be prevented through efforts to improve iron and folic acid intake. The development of local food-based snacks may provide an alternative approach to support the intake of these micronutrients. This study aimed to develop an iron- and folic acid-fortified snack bar based on local food ingredients, determine the formula with the best sensory acceptance, and assess the iron and folic acid contents of the selected formula. This study employed a Research and Development approach consisting of the Define, Design, and Develop stages. Four snack bar formulas (F1, F2, F3, and F4) were developed using a 550 g formulation basis with a serving size of 40 g. A hedonic test was conducted involving 30 panelists using a 1–7 scale to evaluate color, aroma, taste, texture, and overall acceptance. The sensory data were analyzed using the Friedman Test followed by the Wilcoxon Signed-Rank test with Bonferroni correction. The results showed that F4 had the highest overall acceptance score of 5.83 ± 0.53, compared with 5.27 ± 0.45 for F1, 3.53 ± 0.82 for F2, and 3.43 ± 0.68 for F3. The Friedman test showed highly significant differences among the four formulas for all sensory attributes (p < 0.001). For overall acceptance, F4 was significantly more preferred than F1 (p = 0.00022), F2 (p < 0.00001), and F3 (p < 0.00001). Laboratory analysis showed an iron content of 63.44 mg/kg in F4, while the mean folic acid content was 344.32 µg/100 g, equivalent to 137.73 µg per 40 g serving. F4 was selected as the preferred formula based on sensory acceptance and statistical analysis. The selected snack bar demonstrated the best sensory acceptance and contained iron and folic acid at levels that support its further development as a local food-based snack for adolescent girls.