# Fresh Broccoli in Fortified Snack Pellets: Extrusion-Cooking Aspects and Physical Characteristics
## 3 Results and Discussion  
### Effect of Variables on the Processing of Snack Pellets  
Research has shown that extrusion enables the production of marketable snack pellets with a fresh broccoli addition. The introduction of fresh broccoli makes it possible to limit energy consumption due to the avoidance of vegetable drying and to limit the amount of water used to obtain the appropriate initial moisture level of material composition. We found that, as compared to control samples moistened to 32-36% (327-410 mL per kg), the addition of water was significantly limited if a greater amount of fresh broccoli pulp was applied in the recipe. Similar findings were confirmed previously in studies with various vegetables [20; 30; 31]. Thus, the applicability of developed products fortified with fresh broccoli pulp seems valuable not only from the point of view of production costs but also taking into consideration certain environmental benefits. The snack pellets obtained had a smooth surface and a compact structure without visible pores or bubbles (Figure 1). Here, an increased amount of added broccoli was visible as small particles in the snack pellet's uniform gelatinized structure. This effect can be a valuable aspect for producers and consumers, as snack pellets with the highest amount of broccoli showed an appealing slight green tint coming from the vegetable's green color. Overall, the aforementioned attributes make extrusion-processed broccoli supplemented potato-based pellet very attractive as a half-product for further expansion by frying, microwaving, or hot air toasting. During the tests, stable operation conditions of the extruder were observed without interruptions in the flow of the processed mass. The efficiency of the snack pellet extrusion-cooking process depended on the material moisture level and the screw speed, as well as the amount of fresh broccoli additive used. The results of processing characteristics such as efficiency and energy consumption are presented in Table 1. The outcome of such an investigation demonstrates that the efficiency of the pellet extrusion-cooking process was influenced by both the process parameters and the composition of the processed mixtures. Higher efficiency results were observed for all raw material mixtures with the addition of fresh broccoli in comparison to the process efficiency of the control sample without the addition of fresh broccoli. The lowest efficiency of the process (15.76 kg h\({}^{-1}\)) was registered for the control samples without the fresh broccoli, produced using the lowest extruder screw speed and the highest moisture level of the mixture. The highest efficiency (36.92 kg h\({}^{-1}\)) was noted during processing of samples with 10% fresh broccoli content, extruded at 34% moisture content, and the highest extruder screw speed. We observed the highest processing efficiency if 10 and 20% of vegetables were used in the composition, while 30% of added broccoli slightly decreased process yield (yield, however, was still higher than for the control sample). A significant increase in the extrusion-cooking efficiency with an increase in the screw speed was noted for all the tested raw material mixtures (r = 0.887), regardless of the amount of fresh broccoli added. Similar trends during snack pellet extrusion-cooking were presented by [PERSON] et al. [27], [PERSON] and [PERSON] [30], [PERSON] and [PERSON] [31], and [PERSON] et al. [32]. During snack pellet extrusion without broccoli, a negative effect of increasing the raw material moisture level on the process efficiency was observed. In contrast, the addition of 10% fresh broccoli to the raw material mixture stabilized the initial moisture effect on the process efficiency changes, with minute differences being found between samples obtained at the same screw speeds. During extrusion-cooking of mixtures with 20% and 30% fresh broccoli at the highest screw speeds (100 rpm), a decrease in the process efficiency with increased mixture moisture level was observed.