Chemical characteristics and antioxidant activity of different sunflower hybrids and their utilization in bread

The research work was conducted to characterize the sunflower hybrids and assess their suitability for the preparation of bread. These seeds were divided into two groups one used as such while other after dehulling. The data obtained for all the studied quality attributes were statistically analyzed. It was found that moisture, ash, fat, protein and all minerals contents increased after dehulling while crude fiber contents decreased. It was also observed that seeds with hull or shell had less phenolic contents and also lowers antioxidant activity. Also a direct correlation between total phenols and antioxidant activity (R2 = 0.9954, p 0.0001) was observed. Fatty acid and tocopherol contents were also increased after dehulling but no significant increase was observed. The breads prepared with dehulled seeds up to 14% level of supplementation in wheat flour found to be acceptable with respect to all sensory attributes. In the present study, significant improvement in the proximate composition (ash, fat, crude protein and crude fiber) of sunflower seeds supplemented wheat flours was observed. This reflects the potential for use of sunflower into wheat flour for enhancement of these nutrients/chemical constituents. Key words: Sunflower seeds, phenols, minerals, tocopherols, fatty acids, bread.