Abstract
Lactic acid fermentation could be used as a potential modification tool for faba bean flour to enable its incorporation in boosting the nutritional profile of gluten-free breads. Gluten-free breads made with fermented or unfermented faba bean flours were compared with commercial soy flour. The amounts of faba- and soy-bean flours were adjusted to obtain the same protein content in bread (16%). Both fermented and unfermented faba bean flour resulted in larger bread volume (2.1 mL/g and 2.4 mL/g, respectively) compared to bread made with soybean flour (1.5 mL/g). Breads made with unfermented and fermented faba flour had higher porosity (82% and 72%, respectively) than bread with soy flour (61%). The faba breads also were softer than the soy bread. Fermentation of faba flour prior to bread making significantly increased crumb hardness (584 vs. 817 g). Fermentation increased in vitro protein digestibility (72.3% vs. 64.8%). Essential Amino Acid and Biological Value indexes were significantly higher for breads containing fermented faba flour compared to breads made with unfermented faba and soy flour. The Protein Efficiency Ratio and Nutritional Index increased by fermentation from 33 to 36 and 1.6 to 2.7, respectively. Pre-fermentation of faba bean flour improved the nutritional properties of high-protein, gluten-free faba bread. A sensory panel indicated that fermentation did not affect the crumbliness, evenness of pore size and springiness of breadcrumb.
Highlights
Faba bean (Vicia faba) is an ancient crop, and together with pea, is one of the most important legume crops in Europe
We have previously shown that fermentation of faba bean flour by Lactobacillus plantarum decreased ANFs, increased the amount of free essential amino acids, improved in vitro protein digestibility and lowered the starch hydrolysis index [13]
The reduction in dietary fibre (DF) content might be associated with the extensive depolymerisation resulting in hydrolysis products, which will not be analysed as DF, or on the ability of fermentative microorganisms to consume hydrolysis products [38]
Summary
Faba bean (Vicia faba) is an ancient crop, and together with pea, is one of the most important legume crops in Europe. Faba bean seeds, used in both human and animal nutrition, are rich in essential amino acids: isoleucine, leucine, lysine, phenylalanine, threonine and valine [1,2], and when combined with cereal ingredients (rich in sulphur-containing amino acids) make a plant protein source with well-balanced amino acid composition [3]. Faba bean storage proteins have been found to lower serum glucose, insulin, total and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol in young men with hypercholesterolemia, whereas l-3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine (l-DOPA), Foods 2019, 8, 431; doi:10.3390/foods8100431 www.mdpi.com/journal/foods. Despite the nutritional and functional properties, faba bean use is limited by the presence of antinutritional factors (ANF), which can interfere with digestion, sometimes causing pathologic conditions. The pyrimidine glycosides, vicine and convicine, responsible for causing favism in susceptible individuals
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