PHYSICOCHEMICAL AND SENSORY EVALUATION OF EXTRUDED HIGH-FIBER BARLEY CEREALS

Fourteen blends of four barley cultivars (ground) and rice or wheat fl our were extruded into a ready-to-eat cereal using a corotating twin-s crew extruder. The raw blends and subsequent cereals were analyzed for soluble and insoluble dietary fiber, beta-glucan, alkaline viscosity, and other physical and chemical properties. Cereals produced from ric e and five of the barley-rice blends were evaluated by a consumer sens ory panel. Cereals produced by extrusion of 100% barley had limited ex pansion and high bulk densities. When blended with 50% rice, the bulk densities were reduced by 50%, and the appearance was similar to that of the 100% rice cereal. Extrusion resulted in increased alkaline visc osity and soluble fiber content of most cereals. Sensory panelists rat ed cereals extruded from four 50:50 barley-rice blends and a 65:35 Wan ubet barley-rice blends higher than the 100% rice cereal for crispness and color and rated them similar to the rice cereal for flavor and ov erall acceptability. The total dietary fiber of the barley cereal rang ed from 5.8-9.0%, with 2.0-4.7% soluble fiber. Barley is a suitable ma terial for production of a ready-to-eat high-fiber cereal.