Use of Defatted Chia Seeds to Enhance the Nutritional Quality of Wheat Pasta.

MARTINEZ, M.L; WUNDERLIN, D.A.; PIGNI, N.B.; ARANIBAR, C; BORNEO, R.; AGUIRRE, A.

Praga

Congreso; Food Integrity 2016; Assuring the Integrity of the Food Chain; 2016

FOOD INTEGRITY - UNIVERSIDAD DE PRAGA

Nutritional quality and food authenticity are issues of great interest in the food industry, which concerns not only to consumers, but also to producers and distributors. Nowadays, there is a widespread preference to the consumption of foods that, in addition to its nutritional properties, provide components that could reduce the risk of certain diseases. One of the most studied functions corresponds to the antioxidant capacity, since it is involved in protection against oxidative damage of cells and tissues, having an important role in the prevention of numerous diseases related to the overproduction of free radicals, such as cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular disorders, etc. The antioxidant property is generally associated with high content of phenolic compounds. Chia (Salvia hispanica L.) is an annual species belonging to the Lamiaceae plant family, traditionally grown in pre-Colombian Central America. Chia seeds possess an interesting nutritional value due to the presence of polyunsaturated fatty acids (ω-3/ω-6), vitamins, minerals and antioxidant). In particular, Chia seeds have the highest percentage of alpha linolenic acid (~60 %) among the described natural sources. Therefore, Chia is considered an important nutraceutical product being a good alternative for enriching foods, producing functional foods and gluten-free products. Recently, the European Parliament and the European Council (2009/827/UE; 2014/890/UE) approved its use as a novel food ingredient. Within this framework, the aim of the present work was to assess the antioxidant capacity of pasta produced with partial substitution of wheat flour with different proportions of chia defatted flour (0%, 2.5%, 5% and 10%), in order to exploit this residual by-product, obtained after oil extraction, as an ingredient in the manufacture of a supplemented food product. The evaluation of different quality indicators was performed, together with the extraction of phenolic compounds. Antioxidant capacity of the extracts was measured by means of classical chemical methods, including: Folin-Ciocalteu, FRAP, TEAC and DPPH. Our results show that the increasing content of chia flour improves the antioxidant properties of the produced pasta, demonstrating that defatted chia seeds can be used as an ingredient to enhance the nutritional quality of foods.