Effect of Microwave Irradiation and Conventional Heating on Cookie Quality

Abstract

An investigation of microwave irradiation was undertaken to determine its effect on cookie quality. Cookie doughs were prepared from wheat flour, eggs, butter, and three kinds of sugars. A part of the prepared cookie dough was irradiated in a microwave oven for 1-5 mm and compared with the remaining cookie dough that was baked at 150 ~C for 2-14 mm in a conventional oven. Using fructose, the browning of the cookies developed most rapidly and most strongly. All of the cookies heated by microwave irradiation showed some partial browning in the center of the cookie, whereas those baked by conventional heating showed only surface browning. The amount of 2,3-dihydro-3,5-dihydroxy-6-methyl-4(H)-pyran-4-one (DDMP), as an indication of flavor formation, was measured by HPLC in cookies with various sugars and in a model system consisting of fructose and β-alanine. The results showed that microwave irradiation also produced DDMP in cookies, and the DDMP amount in the cookie with fructose was the greatest among those of the three sugars.