Abstract
While sponge cake is one of the most well-liked cookies in the world, mint and cocoa have both been shown to be excellent sources of antioxidant compounds. Therefore, the aim of the study was to create functional sponge cakes with the addition of Dutch cocoa powder and different types of mint, with proven increased total antioxidant and polyphenol content. Additionally, made an effort to produce functional sponge cakes enhanced with cocoa powder and dried, ground mint leaves. To accomplish this, the cakes with cocoa addition were also added 1, 3, and 5% of the ground mint variety, and then the changes in their antioxidant and polyphenol content were assessed. To prove the functionality of cakes, total polyphenol content was detected by Folin-Ciocalteu, while all antioxidant content was measured by the FRAP method. The spectrophotometric analysis supported the functionality of sponge cakes and the baking losses of identified components. The total polyphenol content of baked goods ranged from 1.37 to 1.66 mg GAE/g for peppermint cakes, from 1.66 to 1.87 mg GAE/g for spearmint cakes, and from 1.20 to 1.68 mg GAE/g for strawberry mint sponge cakes. The total antioxidant content of the functional cakes changed between 1.84 and 2.82 mg AAE/g for peppermint cakes, from 1.84 to 4.00 mg AAE/g for spearmint cakes, and from 1.56 to 2.94 mg GAE/g for strawberry mint sponge cakes. The natural control samples, and control sponge cakes made without mint addition with only cocoa powder always had lower levels of polyphenols and antioxidants. All samples had baking loss (control samples had the highest in all cases), but strawberry mint samples had the least of it when it came to antioxidant content and spearmint samples had the least in the case of polyphenol content. Overall, mints and Dutch cocoa powder are appropriate for the production of functional bakery goods because they give the final product a tasty flavor and provide a significant amount of antioxidants and polyphenols despite baking.