Formulation And Evaluation Of Nutritious Multivitamin-Fortified Cookies

A team of food scientists developed a cookie designed to deliver meaningful micronutrients by combining ragi flour, moringa leaf powder, triphala, fennel seed, cinnamon, roasted black gram, jaggery, honey, and ghee into a single baked product. The goal was to create a functional snack — one that goes beyond basic calories to address common micronutrient shortfalls, particularly iron, calcium, and vitamin C deficiencies that affect many populations globally. Three distinct formulations (B1, B2, B3) were tested, varying ingredient ratios, and each was assessed for how it looked, tasted, and performed physically, as well as for its nutritional content and antioxidant capacity. The third formulation, B3, outperformed the others on every sensory measure — texture, palatability, and appearance — and also showed the best physical baking characteristics. Nutritional testing confirmed the cookies deliver 420 kilocalories per 100 grams alongside measurable amounts of iron, calcium, and vitamin C. Antioxidant activity was confirmed using a standard chemical test called DPPH, which measures how well a substance neutralises harmful free radicals. Phytochemical screening — a process that identifies classes of plant-based bioactive molecules — detected flavonoids, phenolic compounds, alkaloids, glycosides, and carbohydrates. Moringa leaf powder contributes meaningfully to this phytochemical profile, as it is a recognised source of several of these compound classes. The cookies also passed basic microbiological safety checks, showing no bacterial contamination. While the study is preliminary and conducted without human participants, it establishes a promising formulation baseline for a nutrient-dense snack that could, with further clinical testing, be positioned as a practical dietary supplement for populations at risk of marginal micronutrient deficiency.