Polyphenol contents and antioxidants activities of biscuits produced from ginger‐enriched pigeon pea–wheat composite flour blends

This study investigated the phenolic content and antioxidant activities of biscuits produced from pigeon pea–wheat flour. Biscuits were produced by substituting wheat flour (WF) with pigeon pea flour (PP) in proportions of 100:0 (WF), 75:25 (25-PP), 50:50 (50-PP), 25:75 (75-PP), and 0:100 (100-PP) and fortified with ginger (4.5%). Aqueous extracts of flour and biscuit blends were prepared by dissolving each sample in distilled water (1:100 w/v), after which clear supernatant was obtained prior to analyses of phenolic content and antioxidant activities. The result revealed that the flour blends had higher total phenol and flavonoid contents as well as higher antioxidant activities than the biscuit blends. However, 100-PP flour and 100-PP biscuit blends had the highest phenolic content and antioxidant activities in comparison with their respective blends. This result suggests that the pigeon pea–wheat flour and biscuit blends could serve as cheap functional foods. Practical applications Pigeon pea is a highly nutritious legume seed but its consumption is limited due to the presence of antinutritional factors and its hard-to-cook nature. The composite biscuits produced from pigeon pea–wheat flour are rich in polyphenols and have high antioxidant activities as well as lower antinutrient contents. Therefore, these could serve as functional food. However, to encourage the consumption of the underutilized pigeon pea, the composite flour as well as the composite biscuits could be produced on a large scale as cheap, adequate, and available functional food. This will also encourage the overall cultivation and consumption of the food crop.