Nutritional, physical, microbial, and sensory characteristics of gluten-and sugar-free cereal bar enriched with spirulina and flavored with neroli essential oil

This study aims to formulate a gluten- and sugar-free cereal bars, enriched with spirulina and flavored with neroli essential oil. The basic formula consists of gluten-free cereals (SCB). Then, sugar and glucose syrup are replaced by a mixture of three sweeteners (maltodextrin, sorbitol and, maltitol syrup). The D-optimal mixture design was used to optimize the influence of these three sweeteners on the sensory quality of cereal bars. The optimized mixture fractions of the best formulation, containing 10 g/100 g maltodextrin, 10 g/100 g sorbitol, and 80 g/100 g maltitol syrup of the total sweeteners. The best formulation was flavored with 20 μL/100 g of neroli essential oil (CB), and enriched with 2 g/100 g spirulina (CBS). Formulations were compared in terms of nutritional, physical, microbial, and sensory characteristics. The addition of spirulina increases the nutritional content and antioxidant inhibition. Then, CB and CBS were found in Nutri-Score category A. In addition, they are very natural, and stable for 60 days storage at room temperature.