Asparagus, which was known to be a good source of dietary fiber and vitamins, has been reported to possess various medical actions such as antioxidant and blood pressure regulating effects. In order to examine the quality and antioxidant characteristics of asparagus, asparagus sponge cakes were prepared with different ratios of freeze dried asparagus powder (0%, 2%, 4%, 6%, 8%, w/w) in this study. With the increase of asparagus powder content in the sponge cakes, the specific gravity and baking loss increased while the dough yield decreased significantly. The moisture contents of the sponge cakes were not significantly different between the control and the cakes prepared with asparagus powder. The pH of the sponge cakes decreased significantly with increased amounts of asparagus powder. Furthermore, the pH of the sponge cake containing 8% asparagus powder was the lowest at 7.49. With the increase of asparagus powder content in the sponge cakes, lightness (L) and redness (a) decreased, whereas yellowness (b) increased. In texture analysis, the hardness and chewiness of the sponge cakes increased as the asparagus powder content increased, while the cohesiveness of the sponge cakes with asparagus powder decreased. Both total polyphenol content and DPPH (1,1-diphenyl-2-picryl hydrazyl) radical scavenging activity increased significantly with increased levels of asparagus powder content in the sponge cakes. In a sensory evaluation using a scale of 1-7, the sponge cake containing 8% asparagus powder had the lowest sensory preference scores. Therefore, the results of this study suggest that sponge cake prepared with 6% asparagus powder is the most appropriate product for quality characteristics.

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