Effect of adding elderberry juice concentrate on the quality attributes, polyphenol contents and antioxidant activity of three fibre-enriched pastas

Abstract

Pastas enriched with plant-derived bioactives such as dietary fibre (DF) and polyphenols (PPs) may confer health benefits to consumers. In this study, fettuccine pastas were prepared using elderberry juice concentrate (EJC) and DF in the form of Hi-maize starch (HMS) or apple pectin (low or high methoxyl, LM or HM). Emphasis is placed on the physico-chemical properties and cooking quality of these bioactive-enhanced pastas. Results reveal that the bioactive-enhanced pastas had acceptable quality characteristics but differed in appearance, taste, texture, moisture content, water activity, cooking characteristics and chemical composition depending on the formulation. Adding EJC to fettuccine pastas reduced the firmness, wettability and volume expansion of the fresh pastas, but increased protein, total DF content, total antioxidant activity (TAA) and total extracted PP content (TEPC). Cooking of the EJC-enhanced pastas in boiling water for 12min caused a reduction of TEPC in the order EJC-LM pectin>EJC-HM pectin>ECJ-HMS, though the TEPC of all cooked pastas was similar (~0.8–0.9mg catechin equivalent/g cooked pasta). Solid losses on cooking were 6.0%, 7.2% and 8.1% for the EJC-HMS, EJC-LM pectin and EJC-HM pectin pastas, respectively. Importantly, a significant amount of the PPs present in the EJC ingredient such as cyanidin-3-sambubioside, cyanidin-3-glucoside, cyanidin-3-rutinoside, cyanidin-3-sambubioside-5-glucoside and/or cyanidin-3,5-diglucoside was retained in the EJC-enhanced pastas. The final concentrations and profiles of these PPs varied with formulation. The combined use of EJC and DFs (LM or HM pectin or HMS) for pasta formulation appears beneficial for delivering their health-promoting bioactives to consumers.