# Nutritional Quality and Safety Characteristics of Imported Biscuits Markered in Basrah, Iraq
## 3 Results and Discussion
### Nutritional Composition
Proteins ranged from 2.06 g/100 g to 13.54 g/100 g. The content of proteins was significantly affected by the variables \"Biscuit type\" (\(p<0.01\)) and \"Country\" (\(p<0.01\)), but was not significantly influenced by their first-order interaction. Crackers and digestive samples showed higher protein contents than cookies due to the different preparation procedures, with higher proteins needed to easily obtain a dough sheet. Furthermore, Spanish biscuits showed the lowest protein content. The observed range roughly agreed with [PERSON] et al. [38] who found levels of protein from 3 g/100 g to 14.6 g/100 g for a cream cracker. [PERSON] et al. [39] reported that the level of protein varied from 5.7 g/100 g to 10 g/100 g among four types of industrial biscuits. However, the number of proteins found in the various biscuit types complied in only 16 cases out of 36 with the minimum limit of 10 g/100 g set by the FAO/WHO [31]. Additionally, the labeled protein content, with the only exception of BSCr2-I, differed from the values analytically determined in the lab. The magnitude of the difference was approximatively similar to the one observed for fats, with the highest value accounting for 577% (observed in the same sample, namely BSD1-U, from UAE, which exhibited also the highest difference between labeled and reported fat content). The content of fiber, ranging from 0.11 g/100 g to 1.51 g/100 g was significantly affected by the variables \"Biscuit type\" (\(p<0.001\)) and \"Country\" (\(p<0.001\)). The effect of the \"Biscuit type\"Country\" interaction, instead, was not significant. The highest fiber content was observed in crackers, and in the Turkish samples. From a Western countries' perspective, the observed values may be considered very low, but it has to be considered that the FAO/WHO, within the World Food Program [31], established, instead, a maximum limit for fiber content accounting for 3.5 g/100 g, due to the need to provide readily bioavailable nutrients more than fiber to face malnutrition. In this view, the content of fiber found in all biscuit types was acceptable, because it was lower than the FAO/WHO limit. However, in view of a generally improved nutrition state of the population in the developing countries, an increase in the fiber content would be advisable, by adding whole meal flows as an ingredient in the biscuits. High fiber intake specifically contributes to reducing appetite, improving glycemic control and insulin sensitivity, and beneficially modulating the composition and activity of intestinal microbiota [40]. Despite the importance of this information, most of the examined biscuit labels did not disclose the fiber content. The total carbohydrate content (TCC) of commercial biscuits ranged from 61.12 g/100 g to 79.88 g/100 g. Variations in carbohydrate contents, which were calculated by difference, were the consequence of the variations observed in the other nutrients (fats, proteins, fiber). No significant effect on the total carbohydrate content was observed by the variables \"Biscuit type\" and \"Country\" or by their first-order interaction.