Abstract
The objectives of this study were to investigate the nutrient composition, protein profile, morphology, and pasting properties of protein-rich pseudocereal ingredients (quinoa, amaranth, and buckwheat) and compare them to the more common rice and maize flours. Literature concerning protein-rich pseudocereal ingredients is very limited, mainly to protein profiling. The concentrations of macronutrients (i.e., ash, fat, and protein, as well as soluble, insoluble and total dietary fibre) were significantly higher for the protein-rich variants of pseudocereal-based flours than their regular protein content variants and the rice and maize flours. On profiling the protein component using sodium dodecyl sulfate–polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE), all samples showed common bands at ~50 kDa and low molecular weight bands corresponding to the globulin fraction (~50 kDa) and albumin fraction (~10 kDa), respectively; except rice, in which the main protein was glutelin. The morphology of the starch granules was studied using scanning electron microscopy with quinoa and amaranth showing the smallest sized granules, while buckwheat, rice, and maize had the largest starch granules. The pasting properties of the ingredients were generally similar, except for buckwheat and amaranth, which showed the highest and lowest final viscosity, respectively. The results obtained in this study can be used to better understand the functionality and food applications of protein-rich pseudocereal ingredients.
Highlights
The global protein demand for the 7.3 billion inhabitants of the world is approximately 202 million tonnes annually [1]
Protein-rich flours are usually produced using dry fractionation approaches [28], classifying the parts of the grain that are rich in protein which results in a concomitant increase in other components such as minerals [5,25,39]
An integrated proteomic approach was implemented to gain enhanced clarity on the ingredient’s protein profiles, with two strong protein extracting buffers being used for the first time, to allow the complete solubilization and characterization of the proteins in the pseudocereal ingredients
Summary
The global protein demand for the 7.3 billion inhabitants of the world is approximately 202 million tonnes annually [1]. The expected continuous growth of the global population to 9.6 billion people by 2050 is creating an ever-greater need to identify and develop sustainable solutions for provision of high-quality food protein [2,3]. Replacing animal-based protein ingredients with plant-origin material is not easy due mainly to important differences in composition and taste/flavour [5]. Amaranth, and buckwheat are non-conventional sources of protein that have been the subject of limited studies in recent years, their cultivation goes back thousands of years [8,9]. They are gluten-free dicotyledonous grains, referred to as pseudocereals, with somewhat
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