The impact of incorporating coarse wheat farina containing intact endosperm cells in a bread recipe on bread characteristics and starch digestibility

Role of particle size in modulating starch digestibility and textural properties in a rye bread model system

In cereal products, the use of flour containing clusters of intact cells has been indicated as a potential strategy to decrease starch digestion. Rye possesses more uniform and thicker cell walls than wheat but its protective effect against starch digestion has not been elucidated. In this study, rye flours with three different particle sizes, large (LF) (∼1700 μm), medium (MF) (∼1200 μm), and small (SF) (∼350 μm), were used to produce model bread. The textural properties of these breads were analysed using Textural Profile Analysis (TPA). The starch digestibility of both the flour and the bread was measured using Englyst's method, while the presence of intact cell clusters was examined using Confocal Laser Scanning Microscopy (CLSM). Additionally, the disintegration of bread digesta during simulated digestion was assessed through image analysis. CLSM micrographs revealed that bread made with MF and LF retained clusters of intact cells after processing, whereas bread made with SF showed damaged cell walls. Starch digestibility in LF and MF was lower (p ≤ 0.05) than that in SF. Bread produced with MF and LF exhibited the least (p ≤ 0.05) cohesive and resilient texture, disintegrated more during digestion, and exhibited higher starch digestibility (p ≤ 0.05) than bread made with SF. These results highlight the central role of bread texture on in vitro starch digestibility.

Effect of different molecular weight β-glucan hydrated with highland barley protein on the quality and in vitro starch digestibility of whole wheat bread

Whole wheat bread has high nutritional value, but it has inferior baking quality and high glycemic index, which needs to be improved by methods such as adding protein and β-glucan. This study investigated the effects of β-glucan and highland barley protein of different molecular weights (2 × 104, 1 × 105, and 3 × 105 Da) and different hydrate methods (pre-hydrate and not pre-hydrate) on the characteristics of whole wheat dough and bread. The mixing properties and rheological properties demonstrated that β-glucan pre-hydrated with highland barley protein were able to reduce the dough tan δ, reduce the dough viscoelasticity, while enhance the gluten network structure and dough deformation resistance. Compared to the control sample, the medium molecular weight pre-hydrate bread had a better specific volume of 3.21 mL/g, lower hardness of 527.28 g. In vitro starch digestion characteristics and ATR-FTIR showed that low and high molecular weight pre-hydrate increased the short-range ordered structure of starch and reduced the starch digestibility, while not pre-hydrated medium molecular weight hydrate had the lowest level of starch digestibility.

Designing healthier and more sustainable ultraprocessed foods

The food industry has been extremely successful in creating a broad range of delicious, affordable, convenient, and safe food and beverage products. However, many of these products are considered to be ultraprocessed foods (UPFs) that contain ingredients and are processed in a manner that may cause adverse health effects. This review article introduces the concept of UPFs and briefly discusses food products that fall into this category, including beverages, baked goods, snacks, confectionary, prepared meals, dressings, sauces, spreads, and processed meat and meat analogs. It then discusses correlations between consumption levels of UPFs and diet-related chronic diseases, such as obesity and diabetes. The different reasons for the proposed ability of UPFs to increase the risk of these chronic diseases are then critically assessed, including displacement of whole foods, high energy densities, missing phytochemicals, contamination with packaging chemicals, hyperpalatability, harmful additives, rapid ingestion and digestion, and toxic reaction products. Then, potential strategies to overcome the current problems with UPFs are presented, including reducing energy density, balancing nutritional profile, fortification, increasing satiety response, modulating mastication and digestion, reengineering food structure, and precision processing. The central argument is that it may be possible to reformulate and reengineer many UPFs to improve their healthiness and sustainability, although this still needs to be proved using rigorous scientific studies.

Effect of adding wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) farina with varied integrity of endosperm cell wall on dough characteristics, dried noodles quality and starch digestibility

The changes of intact endosperm cell wall in cereal food processing and its effect on starch digestibility are important for developing nutritious and healthy next generation foods, but their changes in the process of traditional Chinese cooking products such as noodles making have not been investigated. In this paper, the changes in endosperm cell wall in the process of making dried noodles by adding 60 % wheat farina with varied particle sizes were tracked, and the underlying mechanisms affecting the noodle quality and starch digestibility were revealed. With increasing particle size (150-800 μm) of farina, the contents of starch and protein, swelling index of glutenin, and sedimentation value decreased significantly and the dietary fiber increased sharply; moreover, water absorption, stability and extensibility of dough decline obviously while the resistance to extension and thermal stability were enhanced. In addition, noodles made with flour added larger-particle size farina had a lower hardness, springiness, and stretchability while a higher adhesiveness. Compared to the flour and other samples, the flour with the smaller-particle size farina (150-355 μm) showed better rheological properties of dough and cooking quality of noodles. Furthermore, the integrity of the endosperm cell wall increased with increasing particle size (150-800 μm), which was perfectly preserved during noodle processing and was an effective physical barrier to inhibit starch digestion. The starch digestibility of noodles made from mixed farina with low protein content (~15 %) did not significantly reduce compared to that of wheat flour noodles with high protein content (~18 %), probably due to the increased cell wall permeability of noodle processing, or the overwhelming effect of noodle structure or protein content. In conclusion, our findings will contribute to an innovative perspective for in-depth understanding of the impact of endosperm cell wall on the quality and nutrition of noodles at the cellular level, which provided a theoretical basis for the moderate processing of wheat flour and the development of healthier wheat-based food products.

Monitoring the effect of cell wall integrity in modulating the starch digestibility of durum wheat during different steps of bread making

Reduction of starch digestibility in starchy foods is beneficial for lowering the risks for major non-communicable diseases. Preserving cell integrity is known to delay starch digestibility in flour but its effect in bread is not clear. In this study, the effect of increasing particle size on in vitro starch digestibility of durum wheat flour, dough, and bread was investigated. Cell integrity was retained during bread processing for medium (1000 µm-1800 µm), and large (>1800 µm) flour, whereas in small one cell walls were mostly damaged (<350 µm). In vitro starch digestibility of flour decreased increasing particle size, but no difference was found in dough. In bread, instead, a modest decrease of starch digestibility for the bread made by large particle was observed, likely due to its dense structure. In conclusion, a high particle size could limit starch digestibility in durum wheat flour but not in bread.