Functionalization of wheat bread with prebiotic dietary insoluble fiber from orange-fleshed sweet potato peel and haricot bean flours

The development of functional foods is leading the way toward making diets more beneficial for human health. Prebiotics are among the simplest and safest ways to address some of this issue. However, the selection of simple food systems that better convey their functional properties remains an area that needs further investigation. Thus, this study aims to contribute to the aforementioned issue by developing functional and nutritionally balanced bread. Composite flour was formulated using wheat, orange flashed sweet potato peel (OFSPP), and haricot bean flours. Proximate and β-carotene content, functional, pasting, and physical properties of composite flours, and quality parameters of the developed bread were determined and analyzed by employing appropriate methods. The functionality of the composite flours has been increased in terms of both dietary fibers (2–8.4 g/100g) and β-carotene content (ND–731μg/100g). Similarly, the protein content of the formulated flour has increased from 11.25 to 17.4 g/100g. The consumer-based sensorial investigation further revealed that the produced bread's sensory acceptability is not markedly compromised by the addition of OFSPP and haricot bean flour up to 10% and 20%, respectively. Nevertheless, animal and human gut microbiome studies are still needed in the future to further reinforce the findings of this study.