Substitution of Wheat Flour for Sweet Potato, Oca, and Pea Flour in a Sponge Cake: Sensory Acceptability and Nutritional Composition

The objective of this research was to evaluate the effect of the partial substitution of wheat flour for sweet potato, oca, and pea flour on the sensory acceptability and nutritional compounds of a sponge cake. It used the methodology of a simplex mixture design with an expanded centroid, which consisted of 10 treatments, evaluating sensory attributes of appearance, smell, taste, and texture by untrained consumers using a 9-point structured hedonic scale. The data were processed by performing an analysis of variance and a Tukey test at a 95% confidence level to estimate significant differences among treatments and using a grade 2 polynomial mathematical modeling for sensory acceptability. As result, the treatment that allowed obtaining optimal average values for all the sensory attributes evaluated was treatment T1 (20% potato sweet flour substitution), which showed a content of carbohydrates (66%), crude fiber (1.63%), fats (6.10%), and proteins (2.48%). Finally, the flour substitution effect made the product acceptable to consumers with a nutritional improvement under the criteria of the Peruvian technical standard for baking.