NUTRITIONAL AND TECHNOLOGICAL PROPERTIES OF A QUINOA (CHENOPODIUM QUINOA WILLD.) SPRAY-DRIED POWDERED EXTRACT

ROMANO, NELSON; URETA, M MICAELA; GUERRERO-SANCHÉZ, M; GÓMEZ-ZAVAGLIA, ANDREA

FOOD RESEARCH INTERNATIONAL

ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV

Lugar: Amsterdam; Año: 2019

0963-9969

The relevance of an appropriate nutrition requires innovation in the design of food ingredients. The goal of this work was to obtain a powdered extract of quinoa by using spray-drying. To this aim, quinoa flour was suspended in water to obtain a soluble fraction mainly composed of proteins, starch, fiber, lipids, antioxidants and minerals. The spray-drying conditions of this quinoa soluble fraction were set-up in terms of inlet temperatures (150, 160, 170 and 180 ºC) and feed flow (4.5, 7.5, 10.5 mL/min). The obtained powders were characterized by determining the proximate composition, antioxidant activity, microstructure, fatty acid profile, and starch and proteins´ structures. A correlation among the drying parameters and the chemical and functional attributes of the powders was addressed using principal component analysis. From a technological viewpoint the use of moderate feed flows (7.5 mL/min) and high inlet temperatures (180 ºC) was the best combination to obtain high powder yields, low aw and high solids content. The drying temperature positively affected the structure of starch, improving swelling and favoring moderate agglomeration which increases the encapsulation properties of quinoa. These results support the use of spray-drying as a suitable method to obtain powdered extracts of quinoa without affecting the nutritional value, thus supporting their use as functional ingredients in the formulation of ready-to-eat foods.