Optimization of muesli composition based on nutritional aspects of the product

Abstract

Cereal based food is considered to be the kind of food which can offer an appropriate balance of essential nutrients, muesli being one of them with great popularity at the market. Investigations of the possibility of muesli products optimization, based on different nutritional requirements of consumers, were conducted. Optimization has included defining composition of the final products which should fulfill certain targets concerning nutritive characteristics of the products. Mathematical modeling of products was applied and conditions for determining target characteristics of the product and necessary constraints were defined. Application of developed mathematical model proved that, if composition of used raw materials is known, nutritive composition of muesli products could be varied in a very wide range for each of investigated nutrients. Besides that, applied mathematical model for muesli composition optimization enables formulation of compositions with exactly proposed energy, preserving the key characteristics concerning certain nutrient contents. Sensory analyses of the selected final products were performed and the obtained results showed that all investigated products were sensory acceptable.