Effect of High-Protein and High-Fiber Breaders on Oil Absorption and Quality Attributes in Chicken Nuggets.

Consumption of fried foods is associated with a higher risk of cardiovascular and other diseases; therefore, consumers are looking to reduce fat intake. We evaluated the effect of high-protein breaders and fiber on oil absorption and quality attributes in chicken nuggets, using flour blends (wheat, chickpea, coconut, oil-quinoa-chia), soy protein concentrate, and brewers' spent grain. We evaluated the chemical composition, water and oil retention capacity (ORC), viscosity profile, and flour particle size distribution, along with the developed breaders (Formulation 1 and 2) and a commercial breader (CB), in addition to texture, color, fat, and moisture contents of the fried chicken nuggets prepared with the developed breaders and the CB. The total dietary fiber content (TDF) of the nuggets breaded with only Formulation-1 and CB was determined. Nuggets breaded with Formulation-1 showed lower (p ≤ 0.05) ORC, better moisture retention (67.6%), and more TDF (4.5% vs. 2.3%, p ≤ 0.05) compared to CB-breaded nuggets. Nuggets with Formulation-1 showed the expected texture and color characteristics for fried products. Formulation-1 has the potential to be used as a breader due to its moisture, reduced ORC, and the texture and color it imparts to the fried nuggets, providing higher amounts of nutrients and possible health benefits.

Coconut Flour (Cocos nucifera L.) as a Partial Replacement in Wheat Flour (Triticum aestivum)-Based Tortillas and Its Effect on Dough Rheology and Tortilla Quality.

Wheat-flour (WF) tortillas are among the popular flatbreads used in northern Mexico to prepare 'burritos', which are widely accepted in the USA and other countries but have low nutritional quality. Therefore, to increase the protein and fiber contents, we replaced 10 or 20% of the WF with coconut (Cocos nucifera, variety Alto Saladita) flour (CF) and evaluated the effects on the dough rheology and quality of the composite tortillas. There were differences in the optimum mixing times among the doughs. The protein, fat, and ash contents of the tortillas increased (p < 0.05) with increasing CF content. The carbohydrate content was unchanged (p > 0.05), but the 20% CF tortillas contained more fiber than the control tortilla. Tortilla firmness increased (p < 0.05) and extensibility decreased (p < 0.05) with increasing CF content. The 80:20 blended tortillas showed the highest firmness (7.9 N), whereas the control and 90:10 blended tortillas did not differ (p > 0.05) in firmness. There were no differences (p > 0.05) in extensibility between the composite tortillas. The physicochemical properties of the tortillas indicated that the 20% CF-containing tortilla was a more nutritious option to the wheat flour tortilla due to its higher dietary fiber and protein contents, in addition to the slight reduction seen in extensibility compared to the WF tortilla.

Wheat-Free and Nutritious Bread and 'Coricos' Made with Mesoamerican Ancestral Corn, Amaranth, Sweet Potato and Chia.

People with wheat-related disorders require wheat-free and good quality baked goods. We prepared wheat-free bread and cookies (coricos) with flour blends of corn, amaranth, orange sweet potato and chia. Sweet potato flour or puree and amaranth flour were prepared and their properties evaluated. Blends were optimized for dough hardness and cohesiveness by response surface methodology, with a central composite rotatory design. Bread was prepared with optimal blends plus 1.2% chia mucilage, and alternatively used sweet potato puree. The optimized blend was 57:34:9 (corn:amaranth:sweet potato flours). Coricos were made with the blend instead of only corn as traditionally. Chemical composition, texture profile, fiber, and gluten content of the products were analyzed. The breads' crust was uniform, crunchy and golden, and the crumb was homogeneous, with 41% specific volume and 60% size of the wheat bread. Coricos presented a darker golden color than those of 100% corn. Protein content was similar (~ 12% d.w.) between the blend and wheat breads, with better chemical score for the blend one. Blend bread and coricos had 2-4% more dietary fiber and higher content of bioactive compounds than their wheat or corn counterparts. Blend bread was comparable to its counterpart in chewiness while coricos were softer. Gluten content was < 20 ppm in blend products; therefore, in addition to nutritional quality, they are safe for people with wheat-related disorders.

Highly Nutritional Bread with Partial Replacement of Wheat by Amaranth and Orange Sweet Potato.

The current dietary habits cause health problems due to foods' composition, with bread as an important example. Our aim was to formulate an optimum dough blend with flours from wheat, amaranth and orange sweet potato to obtain a physically good and highly nutritional bread. Bread was prepared with blends of wheat, amaranth and orange sweet potato flours, optimizing the technological properties of the doughs by the response surface methodology and analyzing their physical and nutritional properties. Amaranth provides protein and fiber, and sweet potatoes provide ß-carotenoids and high antioxidant activity. The prediction models were adjusted by mixing time (MT), peak dough resistance (PDR), setback (SB) and breakdown (BD). The interaction between wheat and amaranth significantly (p < 0.05) affected MT, PDR and SB, while the interaction between amaranth and sweet potato affected BD (p < 0.05); none of the components influenced PDR. The optimized blend (68.7% wheat, 22.7% amaranth and 8.6% sweet potato) produced a bread with the best crust and crumb appearance. This bread was comparable to that made with 100% wheat in specific volume and textural characteristics, but had better protein quality, higher content of fermentable fiber, pro-vitamin A, and bioactive compounds with good antioxidant capacity, and a lower glycemic index.

Phenolic Acids, Antioxidant Capacity, and Estimated Glycemic Index of Cookies Added with Brewer's Spent Grain.

Brewers' spent grain (BSG) is the major by-product of the brewing industry, with great potential as a functional ingredient due to its bioactive compounds. Thus, BSG could be suitable for improving the low nutritional quality of wheat-based snacks highly consumed by young people. The objective of this study was to substitute wheat flour with BSG (0, 10, 20, and 30%) for cookies elaboration, and evaluate the dough rheology, phenolic acids, antioxidant capacity, arabinoxylans content and proximate composition of the cookies Protein content and bioactive compounds (ferulic and p-coumaric acids, water unextractable arabinoxylans) of cookies significantly (p < 0.05) increased with the substitution level. In comparison to the wheat-alone cookies, the 20% BSG-containing cookies showed a lower hydrolysis and glycemic index (GI), and less total starch. The low cost, protein-rich BSG with antioxidant capacity improves the nutritional quality of cookies and may confer health benefits beyond basic nutrition.

Microbial Proteases in Baked Goods: Modification of Gluten and Effects on Immunogenicity and Product Quality.

Gluten-related diseases are a range of inflammatory disorders of the small intestine, characterized by an adverse response to gluten ingestion; therefore, the treatment is a gluten withdrawal. In spite of the increased market of gluten-free products, widely available breads with high acceptability are still missing due to the technological challenge of substituting the special gluten properties. Instead of using alternative ingredients for baking, some attempts have been done to decrease gluten immunogenicity by its enzymatic degradation with microbial proteases. Although the gluten immunogenicity reduction has been reached to an acceptable level, some quality parameters of the products are affected. This review focus on the use of microbial peptidases to prepare less immunogenic baked goods and their effect on product quality.