Effect of Enriching Bread with Cashew Nut Flour (Anacardium occidentale L.)

Abstract

This study evaluated the effect of partial replacement of wheat flour with cashew nut flour (Anacardium occidentale L.) on selected physicochemical characteristics of bread. Four formulations were prepared: FP, containing 65% wheat flour, 1% salt, 1% yeast, and 33% water; F1, containing 60% wheat flour and 5% cashew nut flour; F2, containing 55% wheat flour and 10% cashew nut flour; and F3, containing 50% wheat flour and 15% cashew nut flour. All formulations contained 1% salt, 1% yeast, and 33% water. The study was conducted at the Laboratory of the Higher Polytechnic Institute of Gaza, Mozambique, between September 2023 and March 2024. Moisture, ash, pH, total titratable acidity, total soluble solids, fat, protein, and carbohydrate contents were determined using standard analytical procedures. The experiment followed a completely randomised design with four treatments and three replicates, and means were compared using Tukey’s test at the 5% significance level. Moisture content ranged from 29.49 to 31.83%, ash from 5.24 to 6.90%, total soluble solids from 1.63 to 1.86 °Brix, pH from 5.55 to 5.83, and total titratable acidity from 1.70 to 2.73. Fat content increased from 0.06% in the control formulation to 4.70% in the formulation containing 15% cashew nut flour. Protein content ranged from 0.66 to 0.82%, whereas carbohydrate content ranged from 58.73 to 63.32%. The incorporation of cashew nut flour influenced some physicochemical characteristics of bread, particularly fat content and acidity.