Towards bridging wheat gap in Egypt by using cassava, quinoa and guar as supplements for the production of balady bread

Abstract

As Egypt is the largest wheat importer globally, the government is aiming to find alternatives to reduce wheat imports and to cultivate reclaimed lands. Comparative studies were conducted to investigate the effect of substituting portions of wheat flour with quinoa, cassava and guar flours at levels of 20%, 30%, and 5%, respectively, on chemical, rheological and sensory characteristics of the Egyptian balady bread that is currently produced from wheat only and to enhance its nutritional and baking quality. The study was carried out in the Agricultural Research Center, Egypt. Results proved that guar gave poor sensory characteristics, in addition to its insignificant substitution level (5%). Substituting wheat flour with 20% quinoa resulted in elevating protein, fat and fiber percentages than that of wheat flour (16.4, 2.15 and 1.01%, respectively). Bread made from quinoa–wheat blend gave the lowest fungal count and the highest shelf life (8 days), but resulted in significant changes in stability, volumes, texture, and structure. Substituting wheat with 30% cassava gave the highest carbohydrate content, didn’t change any of the rheological properties and no significant difference was noticed between wheat flour and 30% cassava–wheat bread in all sensory tests. Substituting wheat with quinoa or cassava at the above-mentioned percentages is acceptable and appropriate in terms of their flavor. Although cassava has higher substitution level than that of quinoa, still, we recommend expanding quinoa cultivation in Egypt due to its acceptability, suitability to the Egyptian environment, health benefits, low input cost and more importantly its high protein and fiber contents.