Development of low-calorie and low-fatsnacks with enrichedbioactive properties

An Academic presentation byDr. Nancy Agnes, Head, Technical Operations, FoodResearchLabGroup:  www.foodresearchlab.comEmail: info@foodresearchlab.com

Introduction

β-glucans

Tortilla chips

Broccoli trimmings into tortilla

Mushroom

Today's Discussion

Introduction Indulging snacks and healthy foods seems counterintuitive, however, 40 % ofconsumers are demanding functional snacks with enriched levels of antioxidants,fibers and vitamins are increasing.

One of the commonly consumed types of snacks is the baked variety whichcontains low-fat and preferable high fiber. Research is currently being focused onenhancing the nutritional value with the addition of fiber and protein flours intobaked and extruded snacks.

Grains with phenolic phytochemicals, such as cinnamic acids, benzoic acids,flavonoids, flavones, anthocyanidins, lignans and alkyl-resorcinols are chosen forsuch snacks.

The advantage of β-glucans is that they are associated withincreased viscous properties which have high molecularweight.

Moreover, β-glucans are easily digestible by their enzymesβ-glucanases. Scientists or food technologists have to takeextra steps to prepare the β-glucan fiber to inactivate theendogenous enzyme present in the grain.

These modifications are much required to keep theprocesses short and reactive.

β-glucans

During the development of low-calorie snacks, the incorporation of β-glucans insufficient amounts replaces the large amounts of flour to lower the bad impact ofwheat flour and gluten proteins.

The incorporation of xylanase to the barley dough improved the overall volume,appearance and final crumb structure.

This addition also increased the health benefits of the amount of soluble fibercontent in the snacks or bread.

Some researchers suggest that the nutritional and bioactiveproperties of tortilla chips are based on the maize variety.

Elotes comics have been found to have the highest antioxidantactivity.

Tortilla chips are made by the nixtamalization process whichinvolves a lot of stages, such as washing, alkaline cooking, andstone-ground to make masa.

Corn masa is made into a dough which is then baked or fried toform our favorite tasty and energetic tortilla chips.

Tortilla chips

Tortilla chips are high in lipophilic antioxidant activity, B-vitamins, calcium, proteins, and high oxygen radicalabsorption activity due to the nixtamalization procedure.

Mexican pigmented maize landrace has a higher contentof carotenoids and lipophilic activity.

The impact of nixtamalization with Ca salts on blue maizetortillas was studied and was found to contain enhancedantioxidant capacity, and carbohydrate digestibility

The addition of broccoli trimmings into tortilla was studiedbased on the final physicochemical, sensory and nutritionalcompositional.

Broccoli flour was added to the tortilla dough at differentratios of 2% to 8%.

It was observed that the overall protein concentrationincreased by 1.5%, crude fibre by 1.2%, lysine by 9.56 g/kgprotein and the calcium content by 0.30 g/kg in the fortifiedtortilla chips.

Broccoli trimmings intotortilla

Moreover, the overall oil uptake content was found to bemuch lower by as much as 10.5% in comparison to the deepfried fries.

Consumer acceptance was increased and 76 % ofconsumers preferred tortilla chips with 4% broccoli flourwith enhanced taste, texture and price factors.

The addition of broccoli flour to 8% increased protein by17.3%, fiber by 63.2%, lysine by 49.1%and calcium by 62.2%.

Huitlacoche is a commonly consumed mushroom inMexico, which forms corn smut, tumours in ears, stems,tassels and leaves.

Plant Huitlacoche is a high source of proteins with highcontent of dietary fiber and essential fatty acids such aslinoleic and linolenic acids.

Huitlacoche is proven as a functional food that producesbioactive compounds to be used as functional foods.

Mushroom

These are also consumed with nixtamalized corn which is edible and noprocessing.

Many researchers have found that the nixtamalization process reduces the totalpolyphenols, antioxidants and anthocyanin contents.

Moreover, thermal alkaline processes decrease the overall anthocyanin andphenolics content.

Once the tortilla dough is kneaded and cooked, the antioxidant capacity wasfound to increase due to the soluble phenolics.

Tortilla made with coloured flour was found to have significant 3 times enhancedactivities of higher antioxidants, 40% improvement in polyphenolics and improvedexpansion samples.

The colour and final antioxidant activity of tortilla chips have been directlycorrelated to the anthocyanin and phenolic contents.

To conclude, the huitlacoche is a remarkable source of fiber, antioxidants andphenolic compounds, which can be used in the formulation of baked snacks.

This results in increased phenolic and antioxidant properties of tortilla chips whencompared to its commercial competitors.

In contrast, the applied heat treatment in this process leads to the loss of part oftheir total bioactive properties.

The functional, structural and physicochemical properties of tortilla chips havechanged significantly due to the addition of huitlacoche.

The functional properties of huitlacoche phytochemical contents are the solereason for the bioactive properties of the resultant tortilla chips.

The fortified tortilla chips were also found to have many health benefits.

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