Introduction:

The need for nutritious food has increased due to the requirement of a demanding public. Consumers today want appetizers that, in addition to satisfying their appetite, also provide essential nutrients. The objective of this work was the physical-chemical characterization of a food bar based on seeds from sunflower, sesame, chia and linseed, and nuts such as almond, cashew, pecan nut kernel, pistachio and whole cashew nut, and free of components of animal origin usually used in commercial food bars (cow’s milk powder, ovalbumin and/or animal fats).

Material and Methods:

The methods for the proximate composition, the energy value, the shelf life and sensory evaluation and acceptance tests were performed according to the Association Official of Agricultural Chemists (AOAC) standard methods of analysis. All analyzes were performed by triplicate unless otherwise indicated. The results obtained were statistically analyzed with a 5% level of significance for each test.

Results:

Its proximal composition was analyzed (27% protein, 7.5% crude fiber and 4.4% sugars). These values position this product among nutritious bars of high protein content with very low sugar content when compared with commercial bars (20-40%). He presented 45% of lipids with 19% of saturated oils and 81% of unsaturated oils, all derived from nuts and seeds. Essential minerals were quantified as: calcium, magnesium, potassium, sodium, copper, iron, manganese and zinc. The rancidity rate was relatively low until reaching the maximum value allowed (10meq/kg as total peroxides) at 9 days of storage at 40°C.

Conclusions:

The food bars based on seeds and nuts had a high acceptance by sensory tests of preference for adult public. According to these results, a high-protein, nutritionally complete and storage-stable food is presented.

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