Nutritional and functional characterization of date pulp-fortified cookies

AbstractDate fruit (Phoenix dactylifera L.) is a sweet fruit with high antioxidant activity due to the presence of phenolic compounds such as flavonoids. Similarly, wheat flour is a rich source of dietary fiber, protein, vitamins, minerals, and different phytochemicals, providing many health benefits. Cookies were prepared from wheat flour and date paste (as a sugar substitute) in different proportions (0%, 10%, 20%, 30%, 40%, and 50%). Cookies were analyzed for proximate composition (moisture, crude protein, crude fiber, crude fat, mineral, and ash content), physical properties (diameter, texture, color, and spread ratio), antioxidant activity (DPPH), total flavonoid content (TFC) and total phenolic content (TPC). The mean results from all the experiments indicated that the addition of date pulp in cookies had a highly significant (p