Different breeding lines of quinoa significantly influence the quality of baked cookies and cooked grains.

Ten advanced breeding lines of quinoa were evaluated for their physicochemical and functional characteristics. These novel breeding lines were used in two model foods, including cookies and cooked grains, to understand the influence of their characteristics on the product quality. The cookies were baked using whole quinoa flour, and the quality attributes of texture, physical dimensions, and color were measured. The whole quinoa grains were cooked with water at a 1:4 (w/w) grain-to-water ratio, and quality attributes including water uptake (WU-G), bulk density (BD-G), and cooking loss (CL-G) were measured. Significant differences in the quality of both products as an impact of the breeding lines were observed. In baked cookies, the WAQ2 variety produced cookies with the lowest diameter, whereas cookies prepared with WAQ1 were significantly softer than other varieties. In terms of cooked quinoa, WAQ8 exhibited the highest WU-G while WAQ1 showed the highest CL-G. Correlations were observed between flour characteristics and final product quality. Cookie height was negatively correlated with protein content, whereas the water solubility index (WSI) of flours had a positive effect on the cookie hardness. The cooking characteristics of quinoa grains were found to be correlated with the thermal properties of whole quinoa flour. The results of this study will help determine the advanced breeding lines for release as commercial varieties and will also provide food processors with information to find suitable quinoa varieties for different food applications. PRACTICAL APPLICATION: New quinoa breeding lines have been developed to be grown in the climate conditions of Washington State. These varieties were characterized to find correlations with food quality for cookies and cooked grains. The results from this study will help farmers navigate among the quinoa varieties and help commercial food producers use the optimal quinoa variety for their specific food products.

Extrusion characteristics of ten novel quinoa breeding lines.

Ten novel breeding lines of quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa Willd) suitable to be grown in the Pacific Northwest of the United States were developed and utilized for extrusion processing. Understanding how a particular breeding line performs during food processing and which properties determine its performance can promote the use of quinoa as an ingredient in value-added products, such as extruded snacks. In this study, extrusion characteristics of the whole seed flours of the novel quinoa breeding lines were evaluated using a co-rotating twin-screw extruder at two temperatures (110°C and 125°C), three screw speeds (200, 350, and 500 rpm), and a moisture content of 18% (w.b.). The expansion ratio (ER) ranged from 1.15 to 2.33 and was negatively influenced by the fat content in the flours. Breeding line 11WAQ-104.88 (WAQ10) exhibited the greatest potential for use in direct expanded foods as it had the highest ER for all conditions studied. Strong correlations were found between ER and pasting properties of the flours, proving the usefulness of the pasting test for flour quality evaluation before extrusion processing. The results demonstrate the potential of using quinoa for producing direct expanded food products and highlight the importance of selecting specific breeding lines for desired product characteristics. PRACTICAL APPLICATION: This study provides the extrusion processing characteristics of 10 new quinoa breeding lines. Based on the information gained, it will be easier for the food industry, including breeders as well as processors, to select the right quinoa variety based on their requirements, and may further help to enhance the use of quinoa.