Development of a Sweet High-Fiber Wafer with Oat Bran Obesity is a global epidemic and major risk factor for food-related diseases such as cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, and some cancers. Taxes imposed on foods that are low in nutrients and high in fat and sugar to encourage healthier eating habits have seemingly had no impact on changing eating habits among consumers. The objective of this study was to develop a low-energy, gluten-free, high-fiber wafer that incorporates the health-promoting properties of oat bran and the β-glucan it contains. A wafer was chosen as the product to be developed due to its frequent use in confectionery product formulations (e.g., cookies, chocolate bars, Neapolitan wafers, etc.). Many basic components of a typical wafer formula were replaced with components offering more potential health benefits, e.g., wheat flour was replaced with oat bran flour, sugar with stevia, etc. The newly developed oat bran wafers contained 21 g of fiber, 27 g of protein, and 39 g of starch per 100 g versus the typical wheat-based wafers tested, which contained 2 g of fiber, 21 g of protein, and 72 g of starch per 100 g. The physical and sensory characteristics of the oat bran wafers were similar to those of wafers currently available in the marketplace, and they received higher scores than the original wheat wafer in consumer acceptance testing. These findings suggest that the oat bran wafer developed has good potential for use as a component in sweet bakery products that offers health benefits without negatively impacting product sensory properties. |