Abstract
Quinoa is a promising raw material for the production of foods with high nutritional quality. This study used quinoa flour (Chenopodium quinoa Willd.), egg white, and yucca starch to obtain an extruded pasta. By means of a proximate analysis, the nutritional content of the raw materials, uncooked and cooked pasta, was evaluated. The effects of quinoa flour on the protein composition, physical properties (color, texture, loss through cooking, water absorption, and swelling indices), moisture, DSC, and SEM were evaluated through its comparison with a commercial pasta (control) formulated with quinoa (PCQ). The values obtained during the study were subjected to a simple analysis of variance (ANOVA) to determine the interaction between the factors and the variables by using a statistical program. Incorporation of quinoa flour in the formulations (F1, F2, and F3) increased notoriously the protein content (p < 0.05) and decreased the carbohydrate content, and no significant differences were observed for lipids and ash. The energy value increased due to the essential amino acids present in quinoa. The values obtained for L∗, a∗, and b∗ increased with the increase in quinoa flour, and significant differences for b∗ (p < 0.05) were attributed to the characteristic color of quinoa, drying time, and moisture content. The lack of molecular interaction between starch and protein due to the conditions used in the extrusion process influenced the decrease in rupture strength, increase in the water absorption and swelling indices, and losses due to cooking (8 g/100 g) within an acceptable range. Consequently, affected by the enthalpy of fusion, the starch granules of the quinoa flour did not gelatinize, as observed in the SEM micrographs. The results obtained and the parameters used in the extrusion process influenced the characteristics of the pasta, indicating that quinoa flour is a promising raw material for obtaining gluten-free products.
Highlights
Production of food pasta may be treated as a mature technological process, considering the acceptance in markets and the generalized use of the end product [1]
The results indicated that the protein values in the samples increased by adding quinoa flour, as expected
This property, besides conditioning the pasta behavior, marks a direct relationship between the amount of quinoa flour used in each pasta formulation and the protein content obtained, reaching in the pasta a high content of essential amino acids, as observed in the formulations presented in this research
Summary
Production of food pasta may be treated as a mature technological process, considering the acceptance in markets and the generalized use of the end product [1]. Consumers are very demanding with quality requirements and do not accept its variability in the product; thereby, it is necessary to address the compositional and functional traits of the raw material [4] In this respect, the use of quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa Willd.) in human nutrition has been recognized by the FAO as an important food crop, whose grains are highly nutritional as a protein source, rich in essential amino acids, like lysine and methionine. Quinoa has better nutritional and functional quality compared to cereal grains like corn, oats, wheat, and rice [5] with which doors open for the production of extruded pasta based on quinoa flour In this sense, the relationship between the conformation of proteins and the characteristics related to the pasta quality can be evaluated in terms of firmness, color, degree of swelling, and loss of International Journal of Food Science solids. The objective of this project was to obtain extruded pasta through the total substitution of wheat flour by quinoa flour (Chenopodium quinoa Willd.) to evaluate its effect on the protein content and physicochemical and optical characteristics
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