Amaranth: potential bioactive foods elaborated with an ancestral seed

ADRIANA ALICIA SCILINGO; ANA CLARA SABBIONE; SANTIAGO SUÁREZ; SPERONI FRANCISCO

La Plata y San Salvador de Jujuy

Conferencia; IV Conferencia Internacional del Grupo IA ValSe Food CYTED y al VII Simposio Chia Link; 2022

Grupo IA ValSe Food CYTED y al VII Simposio Chia Link

Our work with amaranth has been going on for more than two decades and during this period we have addressed various aspects of this ancestral Mesoamerican grain. Its seeds are a good source of dietary fiber, contain proteins with an excellent amino acid balance and different macromolecules and phytochemicals with high biological value. Until now, three food matrices have been prepared in our laboratory. With whole amaranth seeds and using a colloid mill, we obtained a vegetable drink with high protein content (>3% w/v) and low lipid and starch content, that was stable for 30 days. This product presented, after being subjected to simulated gastrointestinal digestion (SGD), antihypertensive, antioxidant, and antithrombotic activity. Through dry milling, whole meal amaranth flour was obtained and gluten-free cookies were elaborated. These cookies maintained acceptable texture and color characteristics for 21 days at room temperature. This product exhibited antihypertensive and antithrombotic activity after SGD. From the defatted flour, we obtained an amaranth protein isolate (protein content: 85% p/p) used to formulate an amaranth lemon ice cream. Under acidic conditions (60 min, 20°C), an endogenous aspartic protease modifies proteins, enhancing their foaming capacity. This ice cream presented greater creaminess and the same acceptance as that obtained using egg white as a foaming protein source (CATA sensory test); after subjecting it to SGD we detected in vitro antithrombotic activity. The basic knowledge generated by the research group has allowed us to develop three products that show the versatility and bioactivity of the components of this seed.