Rational design to develop a non-reactive model food imitative of a baked cereal product by replacing the functional properties of ingredients

Applicability of pea ingredients in baked products: Links between formulation, reactivity potential and physicochemical properties

This study aimed to evaluate the applicability of purified pea ingredients (starch and protein isolate) by assessing their potential to form volatile compounds during the different steps of sponge cake development compared to pea flour and wheat flour. While pea flour was highly susceptible to lipid oxidation during batter beating, the combination of purified pea starch and pea protein yielded significantly fewer oxidation markers with known green-beany off-odors. This was due more to the inactivation of lipoxygenase during flour fractionation than to differences in batter structure. However, fractionated ingredients were highly prone to participating in the Maillard reaction and caramelization during baking, leading to a more complex mixture of pyrazines, Strecker aldehydes and furanic compounds with potential malty and roasted notes compared to cakes based on pea flour or wheat flour. These findings confirm that using purified pea fractions can create high-quality products with an attractive composition.

3D Characterization of Sponge Cake as Affected by Freezing Conditions Using Synchrotron X-ray Microtomography at Negative Temperature

In this study, the microstructural evolution of a non-reactive porous model food (sponge cake) during freezing was investigated. Sponge cake samples were frozen at two different rates: slow freezing (0.3 °C min⁻¹) and fast freezing (17.2 °C min⁻¹). Synchrotron X-ray microtomography (µ-CT) and cryo-scanning electron microscopy (Cryo-SEM) were used to visualize and analyze the microstructure features. The samples were scanned before and after freezing using a specific thermostated cell (CellStat) combined with the synchrotron beamline. Cryo-SEM and 3D µ-CT image visualization allowed a qualitative analysis of the ice formation and location in the porous structure. An image analysis method based on grey level was used to segment the three phases of the frozen samples: air, ice and starch. Volume fractions of each phase, ice local thickness and shape characterization were determined and discussed according to the freezing rates.

Kinetic study of furan and furfural generation during baking of cake models

This study describes the kinetics of furan and furfural generation in a cake model, for the first time. These process-induced compounds impact safety and sensory aspects of baked products. Understanding their generation with regards to process dynamics will serve food quality design. However, the complexity of real products makes this task challenging. This work provides a novel approach to understand and model chemical reactivity by implementing an inert cake model (starch, water and cellulose), specifically designed for mimicking a sponge cake structure. The addition of reaction precursors (glucose and leucine) to follow Maillard and caramelization reactions, resulted in browning and generated considerable levels of furanic compounds (up to 17.61ng/g for furan and 38.99μg/g for furfural, dry basis). Multiresponse data modeling resulted in a kinetic model which adequately describes experimental concentrations and makes it possible to estimate the degradation of precursors and the behavior of two hypothetic intermediates.