ABSTRACT
The development of diverse types of foods of low caloric value and with high content in dietary fiber have occupied a preponderant place in the food industry in the last years, due to the growing interest of the consumers for a healthy and nutritious diet. Pre-cooked or quick to prepare foods are attractive for the time they save; if to this you add their nutritious value, the attractiveness is even greater. For this reason, this study analyzes different formulations of a powder to prepare a dessert (flan), with different percentages of incorporation of nopal flour, as a source of dietary fiber (16 per cent, 18 per cent, 20 per cent). Two flavors (melon and banana) were tried. It was observed that the flan flavored with banana and with 16 per cent of nopal flour, reached better sensorial characteristics. Greater percentages of nopal flour negatively affected the sensorial characteristics, mainly flavor, color and texture. The analysis showed that the powder presented 5.7 per cent of moisture, low water activity (0.48) and therefore a low total recount of microorganisms. The content of protein was high (27.2 per cent), the ether extract low (2.0 per cent) similar to the caloric contribution (40 Kcal/portion). The flan showed a 9.8 per cent of total dietary fiber, being greater the contribution of soluble fiber (6.1 per cent) than that of insoluble fiber (3.7 per cent). Due to these characteristics this formulation could be considered as a food that provides benefits for the human health.