Gluten-free wafer formulation: Development, characterisation and addition of flavourings with antioxidant capacity

The incidence of celiac disease is increasing, therefore the demand for gluten-free products that also satisfy the nutritional requirements of celiac individuals is rising. Thus, the objective of the present work was to develop a gluten-free nutritionally balanced wafer formulation with a high content of antioxidants. First, the animal fat used in the traditional formulation was successfully replaced by high oleic sunflower. Second, the antioxidant content of several flavourings (cinnamon/honey/anise/vanilla) was measured and their addition to a gluten-free wafer formulation was evaluated. Third, multivariate statistical tools were used to select the formulation that properly mimicked the characteristics of a gluten-containing wafer. According to the results, anise and cinnamon were the most suitable flavourings to prepare gluten-free wafers, and the sensory analysis concluded that these formulations were highly acceptable (means>6.7 on the hedonic scale). Finally, the storage time analysis indicated that the texture of the gluten-free wafers was more susceptible to water absorption than gluten-containing wafers. Besides, cinnamon wafers presented a higher bioaccessible antioxidant capacity than anise wafers (43.5 ± 0.1 mg Trolox/g and 18.8 ± 0.9 mg Trolox/g respectively) (p < 0.05), which remained stable for four months. This indicates that during its shelf life, the product could be consumed with its beneficial effects intact.

Elucidating the structure of melanoidins derived from biscuits: A preliminary study

Melanoidins present important physiological activities, but their structure is largely unknown. The objective of the present work was to reveal the physicochemical characteristics of biscuit melanoidins(BM) prepared under high temperature(HT) and low temperature(LT) conditions (150 °C/25 min-100 °C/80 min respectively). BM were characterised and analysed by differential scanning calorimetry, X-ray and FT-IR. Moreover, the antioxidant capacity and the zeta potential were determined. The phenolic content of HT-BM was higher than that of LT-BM (19.5 ± 2.6% vs 7.8 ± 0.3% respectively, p ≤ 0.05) and the antioxidant capacity determined by ABTS/DPPH/FRAP (p ≤ 0.05) was greater. Also, HT-BM presented a 30% increase in crystal structure compared to LT-BM according to X-ray analysis. The magnitude of the negative net charge was significantly higher in HT-BM (-36.8 ± 0.6) than in LT-BM (-16.8 ± 0.1)(p ≤ 0.05). FT-IR analysis confirmed the presence of phenolic and intermediate Maillard reaction compounds bound to the HT-BM structure. In conclusion, the different heating treatments applied to biscuits led to differences in the melanoidin structure.