*3.2. Proximate Composition*

Table 2 shows the proximate composition of the cookies elaborated with the different seed flours. Humidity was low in all of the cookies, and was lower than 2% in all cases. The reduced values of humidity are adequate to ensure a long shelf-life, making the cookies a long-life food if adequately packaged.



Numbers are means of three independent measurements.

One of the main advantages of seed defatted flours is their high content of proteins [14], which is an interesting source to enhance the nutritional characteristics of baked products. The cookies elaborated with defatted seed flours showed a higher protein content than the wheat cookies. The highest protein content was observed in poppy cookies (17.13%), although no significant differences in flax, sesame, and chia cookies were revealed. In all of the cases, the cookies yielded more than twice the protein content of wheat cookies. Previous studies have reported the addition of defatted sesame seed as a useful addition for increasing the protein content of cookies [27]. Although the main use of these seeds is as oil, because of the elevated proportion of polyunsaturated fatty acids, the benefits of their protein fraction in the defatted flours has also been evaluated [28].

In addition, the fiber content was also higher in all of the cookies elaborated with seed defatted flours. Fiber intake remains low in Western societies, despite the health benefits attributed to it, which are related to metabolic parameters, microbiome composition, and metabolite production [29]. Thus, the fortification of foods with fiber is a major area of interest in the food industry, and is an opportunity for food reformulation [30]. Fiber is an important component of the studied seeds as it represents, for example, 24.65% of the total composition in poppy seeds [31], 27.30% in flax seeds [32], and 34.4% in chia seeds [32]. In this sense, the cookies elaborated with defatted chia flour showed the highest fiber content (12.41%), followed by poppy, sesame, and flax. All of the reformulated cookies showed much higher values than those reported for the wheat cookies (Table 2).

Another important parameter in the proximate analysis is fat content. In this sense, seed flour cookies showed an increase in fat content due to the fat remaining in the flour after oil extraction. When pressure systems are used to extract oil, generally about 15–20% of fat remains in the defatted flour, depending on the oil extraction method [33]. In any event, seed oils show positive characteristics as they are rich in polyunsaturated fatty acids, and this oil can also be considered a healthy source of fat [31]. They are especially rich in α-linolenic acid, a fatty acid the body cannot synthesize and that is the biological precursor to eicosapentaenoic acid and docosahexaenoic acid [34]. Sesame cookies were notable for their fat content (14.11%), because of the lower yield in the oil extraction process and the consequent higher fat content in the defatted flour.

The energy values were similar in all of the cookies, except those made with sesame, due to their higher fat content. The higher protein and fat content in seed flour cookies was counteracted by a lower total carbohydrate content. To reduce the energy value of the sesame cookies, the oil extraction process should be optimized to obtain flour with a reduced fat content [33].

Regarding these data, defatted flours from seeds represent an interesting ingredient to fortify cookies from a nutritional point of view, as they increase the protein and fiber content and reduce carbohydrates. The proximate analysis results sugges<sup>t</sup> that all of the reformulated cookies showed a better nutritional quality than the traditional wheat cookies [35].
