Cooking Effect on the Bioactive Compounds, Texture, and Color Properties of Cold-Extruded Rice/Bean-Based Pasta Supplemented with Whole Carob Fruit

Legumes and common beans in sustainable diets: nutritional quality, environmental benefits, spread and use in food preparations

In recent decades, scarcity of available resources, population growth and the widening in the consumption of processed foods and of animal origin have made the current food system unsustainable. High-income countries have shifted towards food consumption patterns which is causing an increasingly process of environmental degradation and depletion of natural resources, with the increased incidence of malnutrition due to excess (obesity and non-communicable disease) and due to chronic food deprivation. An urgent challenge is, therefore, to move towards more healthy and sustainable eating choices and reorientating food production and distribution to obtain a human and planetary health benefit. In this regard, legumes represent a less expensive source of nutrients for low-income countries, and a sustainable healthier option than animal-based proteins in developed countries. Although legumes are the basis of many traditional dishes worldwide, and in recent years they have also been used in the formulation of new food products, their consumption is still scarce. Common beans, which are among the most consumed pulses worldwide, have been the focus of many studies to boost their nutritional properties, to find strategies to facilitate cultivation under biotic/abiotic stress, to increase yield, reduce antinutrients contents and rise the micronutrient level. The versatility of beans could be the key for the increase of their consumption, as it allows to include them in a vast range of food preparations, to create new formulations and to reinvent traditional legume-based recipes with optimal nutritional healthy characteristics.

Technological and Sensory Quality of Gluten-Free Pasta Made from Flint Maize Cultivars

The development of quality gluten-free products presents a major technological challenge in terms of structure, texture, and shelf life. However, there is insufficient information available to identify genotypes for obtaining gluten-free maize pasta of good acceptability and technological quality. The objective of this work was to evaluate the technological and sensory quality of gluten-free pasta made from different maize cultivars. The flint open-pollinated variety, flint inbred line, and three dent commercial hybrids were used. Grain and flour's physical characteristics and chemical composition were determined. Gluten-free pasta was made via extrusion, and its quality traits were studied. A sensory evaluation test was carried out. Flint cultivars showed the lowest values on swelling index (both 1.77) and water absorption (124.30 and 134.58%). Pasta swelling index showed a negative association r = -0.77 to sodium carbonate retention capacity (p = 8.5 × 10^-5) and water retention capacity (p = 6.6 × 10^-5). Evaluators' preference results showed a higher frequency of choices at the top level of preference (4) for the flint open-pollinated variety C6006. Thus, evaluators' choices showed a positive association between sample preference and firmness. Pasta preference and technological quality have a direct relationship with fast tests over grain, such as test weight and float index.

Nutritional, biochemical, and clinical applications of carob: A review

Carob is botanically called as Ceratonia siliqua and belongs to the Legumes family. The fruit is derived from hermaphrodite trees and hard in shape. The carob contains high sugar contents in pulp, fat in seed and minerals like potassium, calcium, and phosphorus are present in pods. Polyphenols and antioxidants are abundant in leaves and pods. It can be used for enhancing human health due to its high nutritional profile. Carob gum is used in the pharmaceutical industry in the form of pomades, anti-celiac ingredients, pills, and dental paste. The clinical carob can aid as an anti-cancer, anti-reflux, anti-diabetic, anti-diarrheal, anti-hyperlipidemia, anti-bacterial, anti-microbial, and anti-fungal. Nowadays, carob seeds are being used as an alternative to cocoa powder in food items whereas the leaves, pods, and seeds of carob are also historically used as food for animal feed. However, these parts of carob are available in markets with reasonable prices. Carob production, though with a rising contribution, contributes to the local economy. In this sense, we can incorporate knowledge on the chemical properties and the biological effect of carob fruits on human health. In this study, the supportive and health-promoting impacts of carob are discussed along with the clinical testing obtained from natural constituents of carob. In addition, further studies can be performed to extract and separate polyphenols and antioxidant potential for the development of functional that play a valuable role in pharmaceutical and food sectors.

Dragon fruit peel extract microcapsule incorporated pearl millet and dragon fruit pulp powder based functional pasta: formulation, characterization, and release kinetics study

The pearl millet based functional pasta was formulated by incorporating freeze dried dragon fruit pulp powder and 2% (w/w) microcapsule containing dragon fruit peel extract. The control pasta consisted of 100% pearl millet flour. The other four functional pasta samples consisted of pearl millet and freeze-dried dragon fruit pulp powder (DFP) in the ratio of 95:5, 90:10, 85:15, and 80:20 (w/w), respectively. The inclusion of dragon fruit powder enhanced the swelling index, water absorption index, color, and functional properties of the pasta. The total phenolic content (0.24-0.43 mg GAE/100 g d.w.), antioxidant activity (17.76-30.67%), and betacyanin content (0.149-0.152 mg/g d.w.) of the pasta was increased with the increase of dragon fruit pulp level in the formulation. The release kinetics of phenolic compounds into the simulated gastric juice was modeled using Higuchi and Peppas- Sahlin models. Out of these two models Peppas- Sahlin model (R 2 > 0.980 and R M S E < 1.527 ) found to predict the release of phenolics into simulated gastric juice with respect to time of release when compared with Higuchi model (R 2 > 0.964 and R M S E < 6.126 ). The onset of transition temperature and enthalpy of gelatinization of pasta samples was found to be in the range of 66.321-74.681 °C and increased with the increase of dragon fruit level in the formulation.

Extrusion assisted interaction of rice starch with rice protein and fibre: Effect on physicochemical, thermal and in-vitro digestibility characteristics

Rice starch has high digestibility due to its large carbohydrate content. Macromolecular enrichment of starch has the tendency to retard rate of starch hydrolysis. Hence, the current investigation was aimed to check the combined effect of extrusion assisted addition of rice protein (0, 10, 15 and 20 %) and fibre (0, 4, 8 and 12 %) to rice starch on physico-chemical and in-vitro digestibility characteristics of starch extrudates. It was observed from the study that 'a' and 'b' values, pasting temperature and resistant starch of starch blends and extrudates increased with the addition of protein and fibre. However, lightness value, swelling index, pasting properties and relative crystallinity of blends and extrudates decreased with the addition of protein and fibre. Maximum increase in thermal transition temperatures was observed for ESP₃F₃ extrudates due to absorption capacity of protein molecules which led to late onset of gelatinization. Therefore, enrichment of protein and fibre to rice starch during extrusion can be considered as a novel approach to reduce rate of rice starch digestion for catering nutritional requirements of diabetic population.

Kabuli and Apulian black Chickpea Milling By-Products as Innovative Ingredients to Provide High Levels of Dietary Fibre and Bioactive Compounds in Gluten-Free Fresh Pasta

Gluten-free (GF) products, including pasta, are often characterised by nutritional deficiencies, such as scarce dietary fibre and excess of calories. Chickpea flour is increasingly being used by the food industries. Hulls, rich in dietary fibre and bioactive compounds, are discarded after milling. The aim of this work was to evaluate the quality features of short-cut GF fresh pasta added of hull (8% w/w) derived from kabuli (KH) or Apulian black (ABH) chickpeas, in comparison with control GF pasta prepared without hull. The enriched pasta, which could be labelled as "high fibre", was characterised by a higher level of bioactive compounds and antioxidant activity than the control. ABH-enriched pasta showed the highest anthocyanins (33.37 ± 1.20 and 20.59 ± 0.11 mg/kg of cyanidin-3-O-glucoside on dry matter in raw and cooked pasta, respectively). Hull addition increased colour intensity and structural quality of GF pasta: ABH-enriched pasta had the lowest cooking loss and the highest water absorption capacity; KH-enriched pasta showed the highest firmness. No significant differences in sensory liking were found among the samples, except for "aftertaste". Chickpea hull can be used as an innovative ingredient to produce potentially functional GF pasta, meeting the dietary needs of consumers without affecting quality.

Spirulina platensis Protein as Sustainable Ingredient for Nutritional Food Products Development

Spirulina platensis, microalgae, is emerging as a sustainable source for highly nutritional food ingredient production to cover the food demands of the global population. This study aimed to characterize food prototypes supplemented with microalgae protein isolate to develop health-promoting food products. The nutritional composition (proximate composition, fatty acids, and mineral content) of the spirulina biomass, the structural characterization of spirulina platensis protein (SPP) isolates, and the physicochemical properties of SPP- developed food products were evaluated. High protein (47%), ϒ-Linolenic acid (24.45 g/100 g of fat), iron (16.27 mg/100 g), calcium (207 mg/100 g), and potassium (1675 mg/100 g) content in the spirulina biomass was found. SPP (76% of purity) with sodium alginate produced stable emulsions (>90%) during storage (14 days). Amaranth + SPP pasta resulted in good appearance, texture, color, and high nutritional value in protein (above 30%) and minerals, mainly iron (9–10 mg/100 g) and magnesium (300 mg/100 g), meeting the daily intake recommendations. In addition, the amino acid profile of the pasta was in line with the amino acid pattern requirements for adults. SPP can be considered as potential additive for emulsions stability and provided nutritional and physicochemical desired in the elaborated pasta.

Potential Application of Resistant Starch Sorghum in Gluten-Free Pasta: Nutritional, Structural and Sensory Evaluations

Gluten-free (GF) pasta samples containing rice flour replaced with 0, 5, 10, 15 g/100 g (w/w) of a resistant starch ingredient from annealed sorghum starch (annRS) were formulated. The highest total dietary fiber and RS contents (p < 0.05) were measured in uncooked pasta with 15 g/100 g of annRS addition (15-annRS). After cooking, the 15-annRS pasta was characterized by an RS content of 5.8 g/100 g dry matter, confirming the thermal resistance of annRS. The use of annRS positively influenced the optimal cooking time, the cooking loss, the firmness, and the stickiness of the cooked samples, with not remarkably change in color after cooking. The starch hydrolysis index values decreased as the level of annRS increased. Despite a significant decrease in the overall sensory with increasing levels of annRS, all samples were characterized by a value > 5, which is considered the limit of acceptability. The use of annRS in GF pasta up to 15 g/100 g can contribute to creating GF products with high total dietary fiber content, slowly digestible starch properties, and without drastically compromising the sensory attributes.

Considerations for improvising fortified extruded rice products

Micronutrient fortification of rice by extrusion is an effective strategy to enhance micronutrient levels within rice-consuming individuals. The success of extrusion-based fortification is associated with micronutrient retention, enhanced bioavailability, low postprocessing losses, prolonged storage stability, and minimal sensory changes. The success of an optimally fortified product is primarily reliant upon the compositional considerations, but many attributes of extrudates can be indebted to the processing parameters too. Hence, an exhaustive investigation of this technology has been taken-up here, emphasizing on the compositional parameters in association with process parameters, which influence the final quality attributes like nutrient stability, bioavailability, and sensory properties. Based on these attributes of the end product, a collected data have been presented here to bring out the optimal compositional requirements. These together with cooking processes, extrusion process parameters, and storage conditions will enable formulate a product with enhanced sensory acceptance, better retention during cooking and storage, improved texture, and acceptable color. This review will thus help to optimize a need-based product, its quality, and enhance benefits of fortified extruded rice products.