Development of cassava doughnuts enriched with Spirulina platensis biomass

Samantha Ferreira Rabelo,Marcela Tostes Frata,Eliane Dalva Godoy Danesi,João Carlos Monteiro De Carvalho,Ailton Cesar Lemes,Katiuchia Pereira Takeuchi

doi:10.1590/s1981-67232013005000001

Abstract

The cyanobacteria Spirulina platensis has been cultivated in a fed batch process with urea as the nitrogen source, in order to obtain dehydrated biomass for incorporation into food, aiming at nutritional enrichment and the production of a functional character, due to the amount of proteins, vitamins and several bioactive compounds found in this cyanobacterium. In this study, response surface methodology was used to analyze the substitution of wheat flour by cassava in the development of doughnuts with added Spirulina platensis biomass and inverted sugar, in order to increase the rate of the Maillard's reaction and mask the green colour of the biomass. The formulations were evaluated in relation to their proximate, sensory and technological compositions, which, when compared to the standard formulation, without the addition of S. platensis biomass and inverted sugar, showed the feasibility of adding the biomass to bestow nutritional enrichment without significantly affecting the sensory acceptance of the product or its typical characteristics.

Highlights

Spirulina platensis is a photosynthetic cyanobacteria, besides being one of the richest sources of protein – up to 74% of its dry mass with 47% essential amino acids, it contains methionine, which is an amino acid absent in most cyanobacteria and algae
The S. platensis was cultivated under conditions defined in previous works (DANESI et al, 2002, 2004, 2011; RANGEL-YAGUI et al, 2004) in order to avoid ammonia toxicity, and showed typical cellular growth
The addition of S. platensis to the doughnuts promoted an increase in protein content

Summary

Introduction

Spirulina platensis is a photosynthetic cyanobacteria, besides being one of the richest sources of protein – up to 74% of its dry mass with 47% essential amino acids, it contains methionine, which is an amino acid absent in most cyanobacteria and algae. S. platensis has a mucopolysaccharide cell wall, which confers high digestibility with a low nucleic acid content when compared to other microbial biomasses This cyanobacterium has reasonable contents of chlorophyll, carotenoids, phycocyanin, vitamins, minerals and essential fatty acids, amongst other bioactive compounds important to the development of functional foods (SPOLAORE et al, 2006; COHEN, 1997; IYER et al, 2008). Many food and food supplies based on Spirulina sp. can be found on the market, classified by the FDA (Food and Drugs Administration) as GRAS (Generally Recognized As Safe), a status that guarantees its safety for consumption as a source of several important substances without toxicological effects (MORAIS et al, 2006; McKASLE, 2006; CHAMORRO-CEVALLOS et al, 2008; SALAZAR et al, 1998)

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