Antioxidant Properties of Experimental Wholegrain Pastas Made With Different Cereals

Alessandra Durazzo,Marina Carcea,Valeria Turfani,Elena Azzini,Giuseppe Maiani

doi:10.5539/jfr.v3n4p33

Abstract

Pasta represents an identifying ingredient of traditional healthy dishes, in particular in Mediterranean areas. Traditional pasta is made with durum wheat semolina only. However, pasta manufactured with different cereals has become available on the market and its consumption is rapidly increasing. Five experimental dry pastas, manufactured with the same process by adding 60% wholegrain flours of different cereals (wheat, oat, rye, barley and rice) to the same durum wheat semolina, were supplied by Pavan s.p.a. (Galliera Veneta, PD, Italy). For each product, aqueous-organic extracts and their residues were studied. Their antioxidant properties were evaluated by FRAP (Ferric Reducing Antioxidant Power) assay and Total Polyphenols Content (TPC) was determined by the Folin Ciocalteau method. For cooked experimental wholegrain pastas made with different cereals, FRAP values ranged from 3.26 ± 0.08 µmol/g d.w. to 19.52 ± 1.28 µmol/g d.w. in aqueous-organic extracts and from 17.91 ± 2.83 µmol/g d.w. to 87.83 ± 5.06 µmol/g d.w. in residues. In both raw and cooked products the lowest FRAP values were found for semolina/60% whole rice pasta. The barley pasta has interesting antioxidant properties and this result was matched by the TPC one. Practical Application The interest in more nutritious and potentially functional foods has prompted the cereal industry towards new formulations of wholegrain products. The functional properties of minor cereals have been poorly investigated. Our results show that wholegrain pastas made with different cereals are rich in antioxidants, in particular whole barley based pasta, providing a scientific basis for the development of grains based functional foods. Then the study of free and bond bioactive compounds could be crucial to describe the potential of grains, with the aim of better understanding potential health benefits of wholegrain based food consumption.

Highlights

Pasta represents an identifying ingredient of traditional healthy dishes, in particular in Mediterranean areas (Krishnan & Prabhasankar, 2012).A lot of scientific evidences have recognized the pasta’s healthy place in the diet for its nutritional and beneficial properties (Augustin et al, 2001; Wolever et al, 2008).Foods based on wholegrain cereals have a key role in health and well-being (Slavin, 2004; Okarter & Liu, 2010)
Our results show that wholegrain pastas made with different cereals are rich in antioxidants, in particular whole barley based pasta, providing a scientific basis for the development of grain based functional foods
*mean ± S.D.; Anova, Tukey HSD Test; for each fraction, means followed by different letters are significantly different (P < 0.05)

Summary

Introduction

Foods based on wholegrain cereals have a key role in health and well-being (Slavin, 2004; Okarter & Liu, 2010). Several researches suggest that eating wholegrain products as a part of a healthy diet could be useful to reduce the risk of several diseases (Venn & Mann, 2004; Lockheart et al, 2007; Munter, Hu, Spiegelman, Franz, & Dam, 2007; Venn & Green, 2007; Poutanen et al, 2008; Enright & Slavin, 2010; Harris & Kris-Etherton, 2010; Gil, Ortega, & Maldonado, 2011; Borneo & Leon, 2012). Grains contain more antioxidants than previously thought due to a relatively high amount of bound components (Adom & Liu, 2002; Perez-Jimenez & Saura-Calixto, 2005). Several authors have used acidic methanol/water as extraction solvent to improve extraction (Iqbal, Bhanger, & Anwar, 2005; Awika, Rooney, & Waniska, 2005)

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Results

Conclusion