Abstract
Fresh pasta was formulated by replacing wheat semolina with 0, 5, 10, and 15 g/100 g (w/w) of Moringa oleifera L. leaf powder (MOLP). The samples (i.e., M0, M5, M10, and M15 as a function of the substitution level) were cooked by boiling. The changes in the phenolic bioaccessibility and the in vitro starch digestibility were considered. On the cooked-to-optimum samples, by means of ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography-quadrupole time-of-flight (UHPLC-QTOF) mass spectrometry, 152 polyphenols were putatively annotated with the greatest content recorded for M15 pasta, being 2.19 mg/g dry matter (p < 0.05). Multivariate statistics showed that stigmastanol ferulate (VIP score = 1.22) followed by isomeric forms of kaempferol (VIP scores = 1.19) and other phenolic acids (i.e., schottenol/sitosterol ferulate and 24-methylcholestanol ferulate) were the most affected compounds through the in vitro static digestion process. The inclusion of different levels of MOLP in the recipe increased the slowly digestible starch fractions and decreased the rapidly digestible starch fractions and the starch hydrolysis index of the cooked-to-optimum samples. The present results showed that MOLP could be considered a promising ingredient in fresh pasta formulation.
Highlights
Nowadays, one of the most applied strategies to increase the nutritional properties of a certain food and provide consumers with physiological functions is the incorporation of different functional ingredients during formulation [1]
To better explore the nutritional role of Moringa oleifera L. leaf powder (MOLP) in fresh pasta production, the present study aimed to evaluate the effect of increasing levels of MOLP in durum wheat semolina fresh pasta by focusing on (i) the phenolic bioaccessibility and (ii) the in vitro starch digestion of cooked pasta
The gradual substitution of semolina flour with MOLP induced a progressive reduction in the optimum cooking time (OCT), ranging from 5 min for the M0 to 2.5 min for the M15 pasta samples (i.e., 4 min and 3.5 min for M5 and M10, respectively)
Summary
One of the most applied strategies to increase the nutritional properties of a certain food and provide consumers with physiological functions is the incorporation of different functional ingredients during formulation [1] This strategy would be useful to extend health benefits to the maximum number of consumers, contributing to the reduction of nutrient deficiencies, without impairing the eating habits of the population [2]. Pasta formulated with different sources of dietary fiber, proteins, omega-3 fatty acids, and/or bioactive compounds has been produced [4,5] In this framework, the use of Moringa oleifera L. leaf powder (MOLP) in durum wheat semolina pasta formulation could be considered a promising strategy aiming to improve the overall nutritional quality of this food product.
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