Nutritional contributions and processability of pasta made from climate-smart, sustainable crops: A critical review

Total or partial replacement of traditional durum wheat semolina (DWS) by alternative flours, such as legumes or wholegrain cereals in pasta improves their nutritional quality and can make them interesting vector for fortification. Climate-smart gluten-free (C-GF) flours, such as legumes (bambara groundnut, chickpea, cowpea, faba bean, and pigeon pea), some cereals (amaranth, teff, millet, and sorghum), and tubers (cassava and orange fleshed sweet potato), are of high interest to face ecological transition and develop sustainable food systems. In this review, an overview and a critical analysis of their nutritional potential for pasta production and processing conditions are undertaken. Special emphasis is given to understanding the influence of formulation and processing on techno-functional and nutritional (starch and protein digestibility) properties. Globally C-GF flours improve pasta protein quantity and quality, fibers, and micronutrients contents while keeping a low glycemic index and increasing protein digestibility. However, their use introduces anti-nutritional factors and could lead to the alteration of their techno-functional properties (higher cooking losses, lower firmness, and variability in color in comparison to classical DWS pasta). Nevertheless, these alternative pasta remain more interesting in terms of nutritional and techno-functional quality than traditional maize and rice-based gluten free pasta.

Phytochemical-Rich Colored Noodles Fortified with an Aqueous Extract of Clitoria ternatea Flowers

Clitoria ternatea (CT) flowers are rich in phytochemicals. An innovative approach was taken to utilize CT flower extract (CTFE) as a functional ingredient with natural pigment by incorporating it into noodles. The aim of this study was to examine the effect of the CTFE amount (0-30%) on the color, texture, phytochemicals, and sensory quality of both dried and cooked noodles. Dried noodles with 30% CTFE had the highest total anthocyanins (9.48 μg/g), polyphenols (612 μg/g), DPPH radical scavenging capacity (165 μg TE/g), and reducing power (2203 μg TE/g). Cooking resulted in a significant decrease in the anthocyanin levels and blue color, while also increasing the greenness of the noodle. Both dried and cooked noodles with 20-30% CTFE showed a significantly higher color preference compared to the control sample. Despite a significant reduction in the cutting force, tensile strength, and extensibility of cooked noodles with 20-30% CTFE, the sensory attributes such as flavor, texture, and overall preferences were similar to those of noodles with 0-30% CTFE. Blue noodles with high phytochemicals, antioxidant activities, and desirable sensory qualities can be produced by the incorporation of 20-30% CTFE.

Karakteristik Mi Berbasis Ubi Jalar dengan Substitusi Pati Sagu atau Pati Ubi Banggai

Sweet potato is a local food that can be used to support food diversification programs. It can be used as a raw material to produce a diverse type of food products, for example  noodles. The addition of sago starch and banggai starch to sweet potato noodle dough is to improve the quality of noodles because these two starches are more prone to retrograde. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of starch type, extrusion temperature, and water addition on the sweet potato noodles’ quality. The types of starch added were sago starch and banggai starch, with extrusion temperature settings, which were 90 and 95°C, and the water additions were 40 and 35%. Analysis was carried out on the characterization of the flour and physical properties of sweet potato noodles. The best noodle processing conditions were with the addition of 15% sago starch, 95°C extrusion temperature, and 40% water added. This formula produced sweet potato noodles with low brightness, having redness and yellowish colour. It had a hardness value above 3000 g, with higher elasticity and elongation than the other formulas, and also had lower adhesiveness and  cooking loss value.

Effects of Pleurotus eryngii (mushroom) powder and soluble polysaccharide addition on the rheological and microstructural properties of dough

Adding a certain proportion of Pleurotus eryngii can improve the nutritional value of wheat-flour foods and enhance the utilization of this mushroom. In this research, partial wheat flour was substituted with P. eryngii powder (PEP) or soluble polysaccharide (SPPE) at different addition levels, and the effects of PEP and SPPE on the rheological and microstructural properties of dough were investigated. Farinographic assay results suggested that PEP significantly (p < 0.05) increased the water absorption of wheat flour but decreased the development time and stability of dough significantly (p < 0.05). Furthermore, it was capable of providing weaker extensographic characteristics and harder dough with the increasing of PEP addition levels. The dynamic oscillatory tests indicated that the PEP addition approximately increased the storage (G') and loss (G″) moduli in the entire frequency range, while the tan δ roughly decreased with the increasing of PEP addition levels, which could be attributed to the low solubility and strong water-trapping capacity of the dietary fiber in PEP. Due to the good water solubility and easy formation of hydrogen bonds, the addition of SPPE had inconsistent results with the PEP addition. The inner microstructure of dough showed that the continuity of gluten networks had been disrupted by PEP and SPPE addition and then resulted in a weaker extension and harder dough. This research could provide a foundation for the application of PEP in wheat-flour foods, and PEP addition levels of 2.5%-5.0% are recommended.