Food to food fortification of breads and biscuits with herbs, spices, millets and oilseeds on bio-accessibility of calcium, iron and zinc and impact of proteins, fat and phenolics

Amaranthus crop for food security and sustainable food systems

MAIN CONCLUSION

This review ascertains amaranth grains as a potent crop for food security and sustainable food systems by highlighting its agricultural advantages, health benefits and applications in the food, packaging, and brewing industry. The global population surge and rapidly transitioning climatic conditions necessitate the maximization of nutritional crop yield to mitigate malnutrition resulting from food and nutrition insecurity. The modern agricultural practices adopted to maximize the yield of the conventional staple crops are heavily contingent on the depleting natural resources and are contributing extensively to the contamination of these natural resources. Furthermore, these agricultural practices are also causing detrimental effects on the environment like rising emission of greenhouse gasses and increased water footprints. To address these challenges while ensuring sustainable nutrient-rich crop production, it is imperative to utilize underutilized crops like Amaranthus. Amaranth grains are gluten-free pseudo-cereals that are gaining much prominence owing to their abundance in vital nutrients and bio-active components, potential health benefits, resilience to adverse climatic and soil conditions, minimum agricultural input requirements, potential of generating income for small holder farmers as well as various applications across the sustainable value chain. However, due to the limited awareness of these potential benefits of the amaranth grains among the consumers, researchers, and policymakers, they have remained untapped. This review paper enunciates the nutritional composition and potential health benefits of the grains while briefly discussing their various applications in food and beverage industries and accentuating the need to explore further possibilities of valorizing amaranth grains to maximize their utilization along the value chain.

Ocimum sanctum: The Journey from Sacred Herb to Functional Food

In recent years, the growing demand for herbal-based formulations, including functional foods, has acquired significant attention. This study highlights historical, botanical, ecological, and phytochemical descriptions and different extraction mechanisms of Ocimum sanctum utilized in its processing. Besides this, it explores the utilization of Ocimum sanctum as a functional food ingredient in various food products such as bakery products (biscuits, bread), dairy products (herbal milk, cheese), and beverages (tea, juice, wine) while focusing on their evaluation parameters, preparation techniques, and pharmacological activities. In terms of other pharmacological properties, Ocimum sanctum-infused functional foods exhibited cognitiveenhancing properties, adaptogenic qualities, anti-obesity effects, gastroprotective, antiinflammatory, hypoglycemic, and immuno-modulatory effects. Thus, the diverse properties of Ocimum sanctum offer exciting opportunities for the development of functional foods that can promote specific health issues, so future research should focus on developing and analyzing novel Ocimum sanctum-based functional foods to meet the growing demand of the functional food industry.

Potential Effects of the Different Matrices to Enhance the Polyphenolic Content and Antioxidant Activity in Gluten-Free Bread

Gluten-related disorders, including celiac disease, wheat allergy, and non-celiac gluten sensitivity, have emerged as a significant phenomenon affecting people worldwide, with an estimated prevalence of nearly 5% globally. The only currently available treatment for this disease involves the exclusion of gluten from the diet, which is particularly challenging in the case of bakery products. Gluten-free bread (GFB) presents certain disadvantages when compared to traditional wheat bread, including inferior sensory attributes, technological characteristics, and lower protein and fiber content. Numerous studies have focused on strategies to improve these aspects of GFB. However, there are limited reviews regarding the content of the bioactive compounds of GFB, such as polyphenols. Polyphenols are molecules found in various foods that play a vital role in protecting the body against oxidative stress. This is particularly relevant for individuals with gluten intolerance or celiac disease, as they often experience increased oxidative stress and inflammation. Therefore, the objective of this review is to explore the use of different strategies for increasing the polyphenolic content and the antioxidant properties of GFB. Gluten-free cereals and pseudocereals are the most used matrices in GFB. Buckwheat can be a valuable matrix to enhance the nutritional profile and antioxidant properties of GFB, even more so when the whole grain is used. In the same way, the addition of various by-products can effectively increase the bioactive compounds and antioxidant activity of GFB. Furthermore, regarding the contribution of the phenolics to the bitterness, astringency, color, flavor, and odor of food, it is essential to analyze the sensory properties of these breads to ensure not only enriched in bioactive compounds, but also good consumer acceptance. In vitro studies are still in few number and are very important to execute to provide a better understanding of the bioactive compounds after their consumption.

Effects of the Incorporation of Male Honey Bees on Dough Properties and on Wheat Flour Bread's Quality Characteristics

Two different levels (5 and 10%) of male honey bees (drones) in powder form were incorporated into wheat flour, and their impact on dough properties and on bread-quality characteristics were investigated. The incorporation of the drone powder to the wheat flour caused a decrease in the extensibility and energy of the dough in the extensograph and an increase in the dough's maximum resistance with increasing levels of the added drone powder. The elongational viscosity values of the dough fortified with drone powder were significantly higher than those of the control wheat flour dough. The breads supplemented with 10% drone powder exhibited lower lightness (L*) values compared to the control bread. The addition of drone powder led to an increase in the total dietary fiber content and insoluble dietary fiber content in the fortified bread. Significant differences in the specific volume values were observed between the control bread and the corresponding ones with 10% drone powder. Upon storage, the moisture content of the crumb of the control bread and of the fortified breads were both significantly decreased, while the addition of the drone powder to the wheat flour bread increased the crumb hardness and gumminess but decreased the cohesiveness of the breads.

Nutritional, Physico-Chemical, Phytochemical, and Rheological Characteristics of Composite Flour Substituted by Baobab Pulp Flour (Adansonia digitata L.) for Bread Making

The aim of this paper is to improve the nutritional quality of bakery products by replacing wheat flour (WF) with different proportions (10%, 20%, and 30%) of baobab flour (BF). The composite flours and bread obtained were evaluated from nutritional, physical-chemical, phytochemical, organoleptic, and rheological points of view. The results obtained show that BF is a rich source of minerals (K: 13,276.47 ± 174 mg/kg; Ca: 1570.67 ± 29.67 mg/kg; Mg: 1066.73 ± 9.97 mg/kg; Fe: 155.14 ± 2.95 mg/kg; Na: 143.19 ± 5.22 mg/kg; and Zn: 14.90 ± 0.01 mg/kg), lipids (1.56 ± 0.02 mg/100 g), and carbohydrates (76.34 ± 0. 06 mg/100 g) as well as for the phytochemical profile. In this regard, the maximum contents for the total polyphenols content (TPC) were recorded in the case of bread with 30% BF (297.63 ± 1.75 mg GAE/100 g), a total flavonoids content (TFC) of 208.06 ± 0.002 mg QE/100 g, and 66.72 ± 0.07% for antioxidant activity (AA). Regarding the physical-chemical, rheological, and organoleptic analysis, the bread sample with 10% BF (BWB1) was the best among the samples with different proportions of BF. It presented a smooth, porous appearance (73.50 ± 0.67% porosity) and an elastic core (85 ± 0.27% elasticity) with a volume of 155.04 ± 0.95 cm³/100 g. It had better water absorption (76.7%) than WF (55.8%), a stability of 5.82 min, and a zero-gluten index. The scores obtained by BWB1 for the organoleptic test were as follows: Appearance: 4.81; color: 4.85; texture: 4.78; taste: 4.56; flavor: 4.37; and overall acceptability: 4.7. This study shows that BF improved the nutritional quality of the product, organoleptic properties, α-amylase activity, viscosity, and phytochemical profile, resulting in composite flour suitable for the production of functional bread.

Effect of basil herb on cookies development and its effect on the nutritive, elemental, phytochemical, textural and sensory quality

The present study aimed to determine their nutritional, elemental, bioactive compounds, textural, and sensory evaluation of herbal cookies by incorporating the basil, basil along with ajwain or orange peel that encompasses adequate nutrients. The cookies prepared with four different composition i.e., Sample1 (control), Sample 2 (basil), Sample 3 (basil + ajwain), Sample 4 (basil + orange peel). Results interpret that incorporating basil, ajwain, and orange peel have an encouraging effect on the nutritional and elemental value of cookies compared to sample 1. Sample 1 contains a fair amount of carotenoid content, and the phenolic content was higher in sample 4, whereas chlorophyll content was higher in sample 3. In contrast, sample 2 contains the highest level of chlorophyll b and total chlorophyll. The samples containing basil were harder (398.49 ± 17.09), and fracture-ability was more in the control sample (657.98 ± 75.62), whereas gumminess was more in cookies prepared from basil + orange (180.64 ± 8.40). After control basil incorporated cookies showed better in color (7 ± 0.58), hardness (7.46 ± 0.78), taste (7.23 ± 0.44), mouth feel (7 ± 0.82), and overall acceptability (7.07 ± 0.73) compared to other cookies. Considering all the parameters in this study, cookies prepared with herb basil incorporation help improve the quality of cookies.

A Study on Glycyrrhiza glabra-Fortified Bread: Predicted Glycemic Index and Bioactive Component

Bread is one of the highest-selling food products throughout the world. Lots of demand arose from the bread producers by the consumers to convert the traditional bread into functional food. In this study, normal bread was converted to functional herbal bread by infusing it with extracts of Glycyrrhiza glabra. The functional components of the Glycyrrhiza glabra were analyzed by liquid chromatography-mass spectroscopy (LCMS). The antioxidant study revealed that the extract has high antioxidant potency. The present study also investigated the antidiabetic potency of the extract. Bread is fortified with various percentages of Glycyrrhiza glabra, such as 2, 4, and 6. The fortified bread was analyzed for various sensory and taste parameters. Biochemical assays such as the in vitro digestibility test and glycaemic index suggest that fortified bread reduces the glycaemic index. From the study, it was inferred that 6% of infused bread was found to have high potency as a functional food when compared to 2 and 4%. From the above study, it was suggested that fortified bread reduces the glycaemic index and is best suited for diabetic people and diet watchers.

Development of functional cakes rich in bioactive compounds extracted from saffron and tomatoes

Demand for health-promoting food products rich in bioactive compounds and fibers is increasing. The current study was aimed to evaluate the physicochemical, antioxidant and sensory characteristics of whole wheat flour cakes enriched with tomato powder (TP), crude lycopene (CL) and saffron extracts (SE). Physical characteristics such as loaf weight of cakes containing TP increased significantly (p < 0.05) while loaf volume decreased as compared to the control. The color of the crust and crumb of cakes enriched with TP and CL was dark red while cakes containing SE were bright and yellowish. Firmness of the fresh cake samples was found in the range of 7.25-14.53 N. Antioxidant properties were significantly (p < 0.05) improved after enrichment of cakes with TP, CL and SE. The storage period increased the water activity while antioxidant activity and concentration of total carotenoids was reduced. Thus, cakes enriched with TP, CL and SE could be successfully developed with improved antioxidant properties, without compromising the sensory quality of the product.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s13197-021-05267-2.

Interactome of millet-based food matrices: A review

Millets are recently being recognized as emerging food ingredients with multifaceted applications. Whole grain flours made from millets, exhibit diverse chemical compositions, starch digestibility and physicochemical properties. A food matrix can be viewed as a section of food microstructure, commonly coinciding with a physical spatial domain that interacts or imparts specific functionalities to a particular food constituent. The complex millet-based food matrices can help individuals to attain nutritional benefits due to the intricate and unique digestive properties of these foods. This review helps to fundamentally understand the binary and ternary interactions of millet-based foods. Nutritional bioavailability and bioaccessibility are also discussed based on additive, synergistic, masking, the antagonistic or neutralizing effect of different food matrix components on each other and the surrounding medium. The molecular basis of these interactions and their effect on important functional attributes like starch retrogradation, gelling, pasting, water, and oil holding capacity is also discussed.

Nutritional Composition, In Vitro Antioxidant Activity and Phenolic Profile of Shortcrust Cookies Supplemented by Edible Flowers

In this study, the changes in nutritional composition, phenolic compounds and antioxidant activity in free and bound fractions of shortcrust cookies were investigated. By incorporating ingredients such as kamut, matcha tea, dried mango and jasmine flowers, the contents of crude and neutral-detergent fibre reached up to 2.0% and 5.0%, respectively. Similar increments were observed in phenolic compound contents and 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl scavenging activity values. Concerning cookies supplemented with matcha tea, the total phenolic compound content raised from 1.0 to 4.8 mg gallic acid equivalent/g and the antioxidant activity value increased from 0.5 to 5.7 mg trolox equivalent/g on a dry weight basis. For determining the antioxidant activity values in water-soluble and insoluble phenolic fractions of the cookies, a photochemiluminiscence assay was separately applied, and they were found up to 0.8 mg ascorbic acid equivalent/g and 3.2 mg trolox equivalent/g, respectively. The main phenolic compounds in all supplemented cookies were neochlorogenic, gallic and vanillic acids.

Nutritional, Physiochemical, and Biological Value of Muffins Enriched with Edible Insects Flour

Edible insects are gaining attention as a novel food; however, studies with their use in food are still limited. This study aimed to determine the chemical composition, physical parameters, sensory acceptance, and biological properties of muffins enriched with different levels of cricket (Gryllodes sigillatus) and mealworm (Tenebrio molitor) flours. The approximate composition was analyzed, along with the physical and textural properties, color, and consumer acceptance. Moreover, the antioxidant properties, starch digestibility, and glycemic index were determined in vitro. As we expected, the protein content in muffins supplemented with insect flour increased, while the carbohydrates content decreased. Moreover, the total phenolic content and antioxidant capacity against ABTS·⁺ and DPPH· increased correspondingly as the percentage of insect flour in the muffins increased. The estimated glycemic index was lower for the fortified muffins than the control (p < 0.05). Additionally, enriched muffins were accepted by consumers, and their taste positively surprised respondents (p < 0.05). Therefore, the results obtained are satisfactory as regards the use of insects for the supplementation of traditional products, and further research into the addition of insects to other nutrient matrices is needed. Furthermore, examining the effect of insect addition on in vivo food biological activity is highly desirable.

The Link between the Consumer and the Innovations in Food Product Development

New lifestyles, higher incomes and better consumer awareness are increasing the demand for a year-round supply of innovative food products. In past decades, important developments have been achieved in areas related to food and the food industry. This review shows that factors influencing performance in new product development (NPD) are dynamic and continuously guiding project development. The data obtained by direct involvement of consumers can impact positively successful product development and enhance the company's financial performance. The study of consumer behaviour and attitudes towards new foods encompasses multiple aspects, such as preference, choice, desire to eat certain foods, buying intentions and frequency of consumption. Additionally, both the consumers' willingness to purchase and the willingness to pay a premium are important in NPD, launching and success.