Abstract
The gluten-free diet is, to date, the only efficacious treatment for patients with Celiac Disease. In recent years, the impressive rise of Celiac Disease incidence, dramatically prompted changes in the dietary habit of an increasingly large population, with a rise in demand of gluten-free products. The formulation of gluten-free bakery products presents a formidable challenge to cereal technologists. As wheat gluten contributes to the formation of a strong protein network, that confers visco-elasticity to the dough and allows the wheat flour to be processed into a wide range of products, the preparation of cereal-based gluten-free products is a somehow difficult process. This review focuses on nutritional and technological quality of products made with gluten-free cereals available on the market. The possibility of using flour from naturally low toxic ancient wheat species or detoxified wheat for the diet of celiacs is also discussed.
Highlights
In the past 100 years, the human being has experienced a biological transformation with a speed greater than the trend of the last millennia
In the last two decades, a series of epidemiologic studies have shown a particular increase in Celiac Disease (CD), a life-long intolerance to gluten proteins present in most cereals [1], both in the United States and Europe, and in developing countries [2,3]
The food not allowed in the gluten free diet include: (a) all types of bread and food prepared with wheat flour, including kamut and spelt, rye, barley, triticale, or with ingredients from these flours; (b) food that contains wheat, or derivatives of gluten used as thickeners, such as hot dogs, salad dressing, sauces, canned, some types of cheese and cold cuts; (c) medicinal products that use gluten as binder in the pills or tablets
Summary
In the past 100 years, the human being has experienced a biological transformation with a speed greater than the trend of the last millennia. Over the past seventy years, the diet of Western man has been totally revolutionized: farm food, once characterized for being fresh and free of toxin residues, additives and preservatives, has been almost completely replaced by food products of an industrial chain that is, in the great majority of cases, oriented towards profit and the creation of induced needs All this has radically changed, and still continues to change, the biological systems in humans leading to metabolic syndrome, allergies and intolerances, among both children and adults, in developed and developing countries. The CD treatment, is based on a strict gluten-free diet throughout the patient’s lifetime Though this dietary regimen guarantees the full recovery of small intestine architecture and functions, for many patients it is strongly restrictive, especially for social events and during travelling. The nutritional importance of wheat proteins should not be underestimated, in less developed countries where bread, noodles and other products (e.g., bulgur, couscous) may represent substantial diet components
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