Color, phenolic composition and antioxidant activity of blue tortillas from Mexican maize races

Aurelio Domínguez-López,Gricelda Vázquez-Carrillo,José Luis Ramírez-Díaz,Viridiana Hernández-Martínez,Yolanda Salinas-Moreno,Antonio Gerardo Ramírez-Romero

doi:10.1080/19476337.2015.1136842

Abstract

ABSTRACTCereal products made from pigmented grains are attractive to consumers. We determined the variability in color, phenolic composition and antioxidant activity (AA) of blue tortillas made from 18 landraces belonging to three blue/purple grained Mexican maize races – Chalqueño (Chal), Elotes Cónicos (Ec) and Bolita (Bol). The color of the tortillas produced ranged from yellow-green to blue-green. Ec tortillas were the only true blue type. Total anthocyanin content (TAC) varied between 3.67 and 1.11 mg equivalents of cyanidin 3-glucoside/kg dry weight (DW). Total soluble phenolics (TSP) were between 9.42 and 5.16 mg equivalents of gallic acid/kg DW. AA was highly correlated (p < 0.01) with TAC, but not with TSP. Blue Ec tortillas had the highest AA, and Bol tortillas had the lowest AA. Color parameters, TSP and TAC allowed the appropriate grouping of blue tortillas according to the maize race they belong to and were made from.

Highlights

Maize tortillas remain a mainstay of the Mexican and Central American diet
According to the parameters we evaluated, the color of the tortillas prepared from grain from the three races was statistically different (p ≤ 0.05)
Bol tortillas showed the highest value of L*, while Elotes Cónicos (Ec) tortillas had the lowest value (Figure 1)

Summary

Introduction

Maize tortillas remain a mainstay of the Mexican and Central American diet. Per capita consumption in Mexico is about 86 kg/year Tortillas are made from white maize, but in some regions blue maize is used. There is a growing consumer interest to purchase foods with a high content of antioxidants, which has been driven by scientific and media reports about the possible correlation between diets rich in bioactives (antioxidants) and a lower incidence of chronic degenerative diseases (Wootton-Beard & Ryan, 2011). Blue/purple maize grains have more antioxidants than white grains (De La Parra, Serna-Saldivar, & Liu, 2007; Mora-Rochin et al, 2010) due to the presence of anthocyanins, which are powerful antioxidants (Rice-Evans, Miller, & Paganga, 1996)

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