Preparation of semolina from foxtail millet ( Setaria italica ) and evaluation of its quality characteristics

Impact of processing techniques on the nutritional quality, antinutrients, and in vitro protein digestibility of milled soybean fractions

The study analyzed the quality characteristics of roller-milled soybean fractions following germination, roasting, and hydrothermal treatments. Roller milling influenced the distribution of nutrients and antinutrients across fractions. Semolina fractions exhibited high nutritional value, with coarse semolina containing higher ash, protein, fiber, iron, zinc, and phenolic content. As particle size decreased, phytic acid and trypsin inhibitor content reduced while protein digestibility improved. Phytic acid decreased by 33.12 %, 13.38 %, and 15.92 % after germination, roasting, and hydrothermal treatment, respectively. Trypsin inhibitor reduction was highest in hydrothermal (82.68 %), followed by germination (64.77 %) and roasting (61.16 %). These results emphasize the benefits of pre-milling treatments and physical separation in enhancing soybean nutritional quality.

Unraveling the nutritional potential of millet by-products through extraction of high value compounds for the development of novel food products

Millets are drought-resistant crops that generate significant amount of by-products (bran, husk, stalk etc.) during harvesting and processing. These by-products are storehouse of nutrients and high value compounds including polyphenols, dietary fiber, proteins etc. However, these by-products remain underutilized and generally discarded, burned or used as feedstock causing adverse impact on the environment and human health in addition to loss of valuable nutrients. Therefore, the valorization of millet by-products offers sustainable approach to enhance food product innovation while reducing agricultural waste. Green extraction techniques can be employed to recover antioxidants, phenolics, and bioactive peptides from these by-products. The incorporation of these ingredients into food products can significantly improve the nutritional profile, functional characteristics, like antioxidant, prebiotic, anti-diabetic, and anticarcinogenic properties. The review highlights the feasibility of upcycling millet by-products into high-value components, which can address the growing demand for health-oriented food products contributing towards food security, sustainability and circular economy.

Development of novel process for production of high-protein soybean semolina and its functionality

This study aims to develop a semolina roller milling process for differently processed soybeans and investigate the physicochemical, functional, and pasting properties of the resulting milled products. Soybeans underwent pre-milling treatments: roasting (RT), germination (GT), and hydrothermal processing (HT) before being roller-milled to produce fine semolina (FS), coarse semolina (CS), husk (H), and flour (F) fractions. The results indicated that FS yield was highest for GT (47.21%) and lowest for HT (42.52%), while CS yield was highest for control (31.83%) and lowest for GT (26.79%). Nutrients were unevenly distributed among the milled products, with ash, protein, and total dietary fiber concentrated in the CS across all treatments. Both water and oil holding capacities were highest for HT and lowest for GT. Pasting properties, including peak viscosity, hot paste viscosity, and cold paste viscosity, were highest for control and lowest for HT and RT soybean. These findings demonstrate that soybeans can produce uniformly sized semolina under standardized roller milling parameters. This emerging process will provide a new possibility for utilizing protein-rich soybeans. Utilizing soybean semolina as an ingredient could enhance the use of protein-rich soybeans in daily diets and open new opportunities for the soy-processing industry.

Bacterial community structure in acidic gruel from different regions and its influence on quality

Acidic gruel is a popular and nutritious fermented cereal food in China. However, the relationship between microbial function and quality of traditionally-fermented acidic gruel has not been evaluated. In this study, the microbiome, sensory quality and nutritional components of 98 samples of naturally fermented acidic gruel collected from Guangxi, Shanxi and Inner Mongolia were analyzed by high-throughput sequencing combined with various determination methods. High-throughput sequencing showed bacteria in acidic gruel belonged mainly to the genera Lactobacillus, Acetobacter, Bacillus, Clostridium and Weissella. Bacterial community composition and sensory quality of samples from Shanxi and Inner Mongolia were similar, but significantly different from Guangxi samples (p < 0.05). PICRUSt showed that gene functions were mostly related to carbohydrate and amino acid metabolism; all dominant bacterial genera, except Lactobacillus, were related to taste and volatile flavour indices. Acidic gruel was rich in amino acids, organic acids and soluble solids, which were in significantly higher concentrations in samples from Guangxi than in samples from Shanxi and Inner Mongolia; pH values of samples from Guangxi were also the highest. These differences may be caused by geographical, environmental or manufacturing differences.