Effect of Moringa oleífera pod addition on the digestibility, cooking quality, and structural attributes of functional pasta

Influence of Boiling Time on Chemical Composition and Properties of Tender and Mature Moringa Pods

Moringa oleifera is a plant native to India that is well adapted to warm climates with a high yield and low agronomic requirements. Pods are one of the edible parts of this plant and are commonly consumed in some places, (India, Morocco, etc.) when in an early vegetative state. However, both production and consumption of this plant are scarce and seasonal in Europe and treatments to extend its shelf life are required. Therefore, the aim of this study has been to evaluate the variation in the physicochemical properties of Moringa oleifera pods at two stages of maturity, tender and mature, in terms of mass variation, optical and mechanical properties, protein content, total antioxidant capacity and phenolic profile, after boiling them in tap water at 100 °C for different lengths of time (0, 2, 5, 8, 12, 16, and 20 min). The mass of the tender pods increased by 15% during cooking, while the mature pods gradually lost weight. The protein content was approximately 4% with no significant change brought about by cooking. Ferulic, trans-cinnamic, p-coumaric, and ellagic acids were found in the fresh pods. During cooking, these phenols disappeared, and others appeared, including epicatechin and quercetin 3-glucoside, especially in the tender pods. In conclusion, boiling could contribute to an improvement in the organoleptic properties of moringa pods and to an extension of their storage and to wider availability on the market.

Optimisation of multigrain seera from sorghum, green gram and finger millet: effect of ingredients on functional, structural and thermal properties

Seera, is a traditional Indian fermented food, has high carbohydrate and reducing sugar content, however, lacks functional components like antioxidant properties. The present study aims to optimize and evaluate the multigrain seera with added values. The optimization of seera was made using mixture design, with green gram (X1, 15-30%), sorghum (X2, 15-25%) and finger millet (X3, 5-10%) as independent variables. The responses checked were total phenolic content (Y1), protein content (Y2) and overall acceptability (Y3). The optimum run with green gram (25.58%), sorghum (15%) and finger millet (9.41%) resulted in TPC (1.2 ± 0.12 mg GAE/g), protein content (11.40 ± 0.10 g) with overall acceptability (8.32 ± 0.30). The optimized multigrain seera depicted higher fibre (4.23 ± 0.08%), ash (1.90 ± 1.1%) and protein (11.40 ± 0.10%) than the control seera. The rheological properties of seera depicted shear thinning and elastic behaviour. Texture profile analysis showed that cohesiveness (0.415 ± 0.01) increased significantly (along with decreased springiness (0.251). Morphology of seera showed broken and deformed starch granules with few cracks due to fermentation phenomena that leads to superficial corrosion.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s13197-023-05854-5.

Innovative Approaches for Food: Using Natural Phenolic-Rich Extracts to Produce Value-Added Fresh Pasta

Cereal-based products, which are rich in carbohydrates, are widely consumed worldwide; however, this type of food lacks other nutrients. Phenolic compounds from natural sources, such as Moringa oleifera, can be incorporated into these products to increase their nutritional and biological value. In this study, a phenolic-rich extract was obtained from M. oleifera leaf powder using a Soxhlet extractor. The extract obtained presented a total phenolic content of 79.0 mg of gallic acid equivalents/g and the ABTS and DPPH assays showed that the extract can act as an anti-oxidant agent, with IC50 values of 205.2 mg/L and 636.0 mg/L, respectively. Afterwards, fresh pasta was produced and the extract was incorporated into the pasta to improve its biological properties and extend its shelf-life. The results demonstrated that the addition of M. oleifera to the fresh pasta increased its anti-oxidant capacity and did not interfere with the cooking properties of the product. Moreover, the fortified pasta presented an increased shelf-life, since the extract conferred protection against microbial contamination for longer periods of time. Therefore, these findings showed that the incorporation of phenolic-rich extracts from natural sources (such as M. oleifera) is a feasible sustainable biotechnological approach to produce value-added cereal-based products.

Factors Affecting the Nutritional, Health, and Technological Quality of Durum Wheat for Pasta-Making: A Systematic Literature Review

Durum wheat is one of the most important food sources in the world, playing a key role in human nutrition, as well as in the economy of the different countries in which its production areas are concentrated. Its grain also represents a staple and highly versatile ingredient in the development of health foods. Nonetheless, the aspects determining durum wheat's health quality and their interactions are many, complex, and not entirely known. Therefore, the present systematic literature review aims at advancing the understanding of the relationships among nutritional, health, and technological properties of durum wheat grain, semolina, and pasta, by evaluating the factors that, either positively or negatively, can affect the quality of the products. Scopus, Science Direct, and Web of Science databases were systematically searched utilising sets of keywords following the PRISMA guidelines, and the relevant results of the definitive 154 eligible studies were presented and discussed. Thus, the review identified the most promising strategies to improve durum wheat quality and highlighted the importance of adopting multidisciplinary approaches for such purposes.

Effect of Thermal Processing on Physicochemical and Antioxidant Properties of Raw and Cooked Moringa oleifera Lam. Pods

Moringa is regarded as a miracle tree because all components of the plant, including the roots, leaves, pod, and flowers, have significant nutritional and therapeutic value. Moringa oleifera Lam. pods have excellent antioxidant characteristics and are a good source of protein, carbohydrate, fat, vitamins, beta-carotene, amino acids, and phenolic compounds. The pods of Moringa oleifera Lam. were collected from the local market of Sunamganj, and their nutritional value was assessed in raw condition and after thermal processing. The goal of this research was to observe how the thermal temperature affected the antioxidant and physicochemical qualities of thermally-processed Moringa oleifera Lam. pods. Thermal treatment diminished the amount of crude protein, fat, carbohydrate, ash, ascorbic acid, and beta-carotene in the pods, as well as DPPH, total phenol content, and total flavonoid content. The moisture percentage of raw and thermally-processed Moringa oleifera Lam. pods was determined to be 83.12%, 86.03% with a total ash level of 2.01%, and 1.8%, respectively. The crude protein, fat content, and carbohydrate were 3.0%, 0.1%, and 3.2%, respectively, in thermally-processed pods. The values for total phenol content, total flavonoid content, vitamin C, DPPH free radical scavenging activity, and β-carotene were 28.13 mg, 2.98 mg, 38.23%, 3.98 mg, and 0.12 mg, respectively, in raw samples whereas 24.56 mg, 2.72 mg, 3.50 mg, 34.32%, and 0.0904 mg, respectively, in thermally-processed samples. According to the findings, Moringa oleifera Lam. pods have high nutritional content and thus can be used as an excellent source of diet, and even after thermal processing, a significant nutritive value remains in the Moringa oleifera Lam. pods.