A multivariate study of the physicochemical and functional characteristics of native and pregelatinized gluten-free flours and chia expeller

CORONEL, ESTEFANÍA B; IXTAINA, VANESA Y; CAPITANI, MARIANELA I

Valencia

Conferencia; V International Conference la ValSe-Food and VIII Symposium Chia-Link; 2023

Red Chía Link y la ValSe-Food Network

The high demand for gluten-free foods and consumers´ preference for healthier diets drive the search for raw materials with suitable properties for preparing these foods. This study utilized a multivariate statistical approach to analyze the physicochemical and functional properties of rice, buckwheat, green pea, and yellow pea flours in both their native and pregelatinized forms and chia expeller. Principal component analysis (PCA) was applied to the flours and chia expeller data set. The score plot depicted the variations among the samples, revealing the correlation patterns between the variables. PC1, 2, and 3 explain 44.0, 23.2, and 17.2% of the variability, respectively, describing a total of 84.4% of the variance. PC1 allowed separating the chia expeller from the other flours, whereas PC2 distinguished pea flour from rice flour. By considering PC1, chia expeller was associated mainly with a high content of fatty acids, crude fiber, and water absorption capacity, water holding capacity, and swelling capacity. These characteristics can be attributed to the oil and mucilage present in chia expeller. Regarding the other flours, they exhibited moderate to high luminosity, moisture content, and carbohydrate levels. Concerning PC2, pregelatinized rice flour displayed a high absorption capacity of organic molecules whereas the pea flours were related to the least gelation concentration, high acidity, bulk, and tapped density, yellow color, oil-holding capacity, emulsifying activity, emulsion stability, and protein content. Thus, this multivariate analysis visualized the association between variables to characterize the analyzed flours and chia expeller, with potential application in gluten-free foods.