Current and Forward‐Looking Approaches to Technological and Nutritional Improvements of Gluten‐Free Bread with Legume Flours: A Critical Review

The gluten‐free market currently offers a range of products which can be safely consumed by patients affected by celiac disease. Nevertheless, challenges for optimal formulation remain on the way in terms of appreciable texture, flavor, and adequate nutritional characteristics. Within that framework, legumes have recently attracted attention among scientists as structure‐ and texture‐forming agents, as source of nutrients and bioactive compounds, and as a low‐glycemic‐index ingredient. This work aims at providing an updated and comprehensive overview of the advantages and disadvantages in the use of legumes in gluten‐free breadmaking. It also shows how legumes can contribute to tackling the main technological, nutritional, and organoleptic challenges. From this critical analysis, it emerged that viscoelastic properties of gluten‐free bread batter can be enhanced by the use of carob germ, chickpea, lupin, and soybean. Gluten‐free bread organoleptic acceptability can be improved by incorporating leguminous flours, such as carob, chickpea, lupin, and soybean. Moreover, a better nutritional quality of gluten‐free bread can be obtained by the addition of chickpea and soybean. Gaps and needs in the use of legumes in gluten‐free breadmaking emerged and were gathered together to have a sound basis for future studies. The technological and nutritional potential of sourdough should be more extensively exploited. Moreover, in vitro and in vivo studies should be prompted to understand the health benefits of bread formulated with legumes. A holistic approach, interfacing food science, nutrition, and health might help to have, on the market, products with improved sensory properties and nutritional profile.     

QUALITY CHARACTERISTICS OF CORN NOODLES CONTAINING GELATINIZED STARCH, TRANSGLUTAMINASE AND GUM

ABSTRACT

Effects of gelatinized corn flour addition level (40, 60 and 80%), gum (locust bean gum or xanthan gum, 3%) and/or transglutaminase (TG, 0.5%) on quality characteristics of corn noodle were investigated. Gelatinized corn flour was used as a binder for remaining untreated corn flour (60, 40 and 20%). Corn noodles were evaluated in terms of cooking properties (cooking loss, total organic matter (TOM), water absorption, swelling volume and maximum force), color, sensory and pasting properties. Noodle sample containing gelatinized corn flour at level of 80% exhibited best cooking and sensory properties. Gum and/or TG were added to this noodle formula. Gum improved noodle quality in terms of some cooking properties. Improving effect of xanthan gum was more obvious. Covalent crosslinks catalyzed by TG caused significantly lower cooking loss and TOM values. Gums generally caused increases in Rapid ViscoAnalyzer viscosity values of noodles. Gum and/or TG show great promise in processing of gluten‐free corn noodle.

PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS

Celiac disease occurs in about one in 300 people in Europe. Lack of gluten in cereals that are safe for gluten‐free food causes major problems in dough processing and product quality. Technological difficulties in production and lack of awareness of number of celiac patients in need of gluten‐free products might restrict researches related to gluten‐free food. In recent years, various approaches to overcome the technological problems are arising. Searching for ingredients that have ability to mimic properties of gluten in production of gluten‐free food is the most common approach. We report herein beneficial effects of gelatinization, gum (locust bean gum, xanthan gum) and/or transglutaminase (TG) in gluten‐free corn noodle production. They have major improving effects in noodle quality and show great promise as a processing aid in bulk manufacture of gluten‐free corn noodle. To the best of our knowledge, there is no study investigating utilization of TG in gluten‐free corn noodles.     

酸面团发酵技术在无麸质食物中的应用

无麸质食物是为乳糜泻人群应对麸质蛋白过敏而生产的一类食物,但无麸质食物因麸质蛋白的缺失,多存在口感差、体积小和硬度大等缺点。酸面团是一种传统发酵技术,通过酸面团中微生物的代谢作用,可产生蛋白酶降解麸质蛋白,同时还能提高无麸质食物的整体品质,如改善制品风味、提高营养价值、延长货架期等。本文主要对酸面团发酵技术及其在无麸质食物中的应用优势进行探讨,以期为无麸质食物研究提供理论参考。     

Gluten‐Free Snacks Using Plantain–Chickpea and Maize Blend: Chemical Composition,Starch Digestibility,and Predicted Glycemic Index

An increase in celiac consumers has caused an increasing interest to develop good quality gluten‐free food products with high nutritional value. Snack foods are consumed worldwide and have become a normal part of the eating habits of the celiac population making them a target to improve their nutritive value. Extrusion and deep‐frying of unripe plantain, chickpea, and maize flours blends produced gluten‐free snacks with high dietary fiber contents (13.7–18.2 g/100 g) and low predicted glycemic index (28 to 35). The gluten‐free snacks presented lower fat content (12.7 to 13.6 g/100 g) than those reported in similar commercial snacks. The snack with the highest unripe plantain flour showed higher slowly digestible starch (11.6 and 13.4 g/100 g) than its counterpart with the highest chickpea flour level (6 g/100 g). The overall acceptability of the gluten‐free snacks was similar to that chili‐flavored commercial snack. It was possible to develop gluten‐free snacks with high dietary fiber content and low predicted glycemic index with the blend of the 3 flours, and these gluten‐free snacks may also be useful as an alternative to reduce excess weight and obesity problems in the general population and celiac community.     

Applications of chia (Salvia hispanica L.) in food products

BackgroundThe outstanding nutritional and technological properties lead to innovative applications of chia (Salvia hispanica L.) in food products.Scope and approachThe aim of this contribution is to give an overview of the various food application approaches for chia. The nutritional and technological properties of chia as well as its technological and innovative utilization are presented. Examples for the various applications in food products are given in five main topics: baked goods, dairy products, meat and fish products, gluten-free products and other products such as functional food, hydrocolloid and thickener.Key findings and conclusionsBesides the nutritional benefits of chia incorporation in food products the technological effects are emphasized very often. Summarized in five main topics, most authors conclude that chia is a valuable food ingredient for functional food development. The application of chia in baked goods for example is beneficial not only to improve the nutritional value but acting as hydrocolloid or substitute egg, fat or gluten. The increase of oil stability and applications as food thickener in novel food applications are of high importance too. As different chia fractions give various options for applications the utilization of chia for further food products will increase significantly in the future.     

Nutritional aspects of gluten‐free products

In recent years, gluten‐free (GF) goods have become popular, fuelling a growing market, as they not only cater to individuals with medical needs but also to consumers who seek a GF diet. In their development, it is pivotal to pay attention to nutritional quality. This review aims to provide some insights on the nutritional quality of GF products, focusing on major concerns and the strategies to overcome them. In order to mimic the viscoelastic properties of gluten, a large number of flours and starches and other ingredients have been used. Therefore the different mixtures of these ingredients bring a wide difference in the nutritional composition of GF foods with respect to gluten‐containing counterparts. Several GF foodstuffs contain more fat, including saturated, and salt but fewer minerals and vitamins than their equivalents with gluten. The increased fibre content and improved technological processes have positively affected the glycaemic responses from these goods. However, in order to improve their nutritional quality, wholemeal GF cereals and pseudocereals with high nutritive value should replace the low‐nutritional GF flours and consequently the technological processes would be optimized. The improvement of the nutritional quality of GF products, and in turn that of the GF diet, should also be aimed at lowering the risk of later chronic degenerative disorders, especially for infants and young children. © 2015 Society of Chemical Industry     

How Looking for Celiac‐Safe Wheat Can Influence Its Technological Properties

Because of the continuous increase in the prevalence of gluten‐related disorders, selection of wheat with a low content of immunogenic gluten epitopes could be an innovative alternative for prevention. In this review, the focus is on literature data concerning the deallergenization tools of wheat, which are mainly related to breeding approaches (classic and advanced) and processing operations (germination and fermentation). Until now, no safe wheat genotype has been identified, whereas decreasing wheat allergenicity is possible. On the other hand, the decrease of gluten or some of its epitopes can strongly affect technological properties. Thus, obtaining celiac‐safe gluten without affecting the technological properties of wheat could be considered as a new challenge that scientists will be facing. Celiac‐safe wheat‐based product development could be a great revolution in the market of foods for special medical purposes. The present paper is aiming to: (a) review the strategies and the approaches used, or that can be used, for developing low allergenic wheat: their utilities and limits were also discussed and (b) screen the impact of gluten reduction or removal on the quality of wheat end‐use products.     

Gluten‐Free Breads: The Gap Between Research and Commercial Reality

The market for gluten‐free products is steadily growing and gluten‐free bread (GFB) keeps on being one of the most challenging products to develop. Although numerous research studies have worked on improving the manufacture of GFBs, some have adopted approaches far from commercial reality. This review analyzes the ingredient list and nutrition facts of 228 commercially available GFBs produced by different brands around the world. The results from studying the ingredient list of breads revealed that commercial breads do not tend to use a single starchy source or gluten replacer, but a combination of several ingredients to optimize bread quality. Maize, tuber starches, and rice flour were the main starchy sources. Regarding hydrocolloids, the most often included ingredients were hydroxypropyl methylcellulose, xanthan and guar gum, and psyllium. Proteins and sugars were added, respectively, in 81% and 87% of the commercial breads analyzed. Furthermore, it was found that vegetable oils were preferred over fats. A long list of ingredients was observed in commercial GFBs, with the presence of a wide range of additives, including acidifiers, emulsifiers, leavening agents, preservatives, and aromas or flavorings. Meanwhile, nutrition facts showed a lower protein and higher fat content for GFBs compared to a gluten‐containing counterpart, with small differences for salt and sugar. This research expands the current knowledge on GFB manufacturing, giving a panoramic outlook on the current situation in the GFB market, and helping both scientists and gluten‐free companies unify/identify common trends.     

Nutritional constituents of pseudo cereals and their potential use in food systems: A review

Consumers are more focused to adopt healthy life styles and appropriate nutritional habits. From the variety of plants which can be potentially used for human nutrition, today fewer and fewer species are used due to elevated risk of health related problems. Results from a number of recent studies have highlighted the need for an improvement in the nutritional quality of cereal based gluten free products. In order to meet the demands of the growing population new food stuffs are being continuously investigated with the aim to improve the diet and conduce to a better health state. At present attention of researchers is more focused towards the exploitation of alternative crops or underutilized species for multifarious uses. Interest in the pseudo cereals has aroused considerably due to their excellent nutritional, phenolic and phytochemical profile and their use in development of gluten free products. Moreover, the amino acid profile and nutritional properties like essential amino acid index, biological value, protein efficiency ratio and nutritional index of pseudo cereals are higher as compared to conventional cereals like wheat rice and maize. Recent studies have indicated that phenolics present in pseudo cereals have several health benefits like prevention and reduction of oxidative stress, anti-cancer, anti-diabetic, anti-inflammatory, anti-hypertensive and prevention of cardiovascular diseases. Therefore, commercialization of these pseudo cereals would help to combat various health related issues, and also the availability of palatable pseudo cereal containing gluten-free products would represent advance towards ensuring an adequate intake of nutrients in subjects with celiac disease.     

Wheat Seed Proteins: Factors Influencing Their Content,Composition, and Technological Properties,and Strategies to Reduce Adverse Reactions

Wheat is the primary source of nutrition for many, especially those living in developing countries, and wheat proteins are among the most widely consumed dietary proteins in the world. However, concerns about disorders related to the consumption of wheat and/or wheat gluten proteins have increased sharply in the last 20 years. This review focuses on wheat gluten proteins and amylase trypsin inhibitors, which are considered to be responsible for eliciting most of the intestinal and extraintestinal symptoms experienced by susceptible individuals. Although several approaches have been proposed to reduce the exposure to gluten or immunogenic peptides resulting from its digestion, none have proven sufficiently effective for general use in coeliac‐safe diets. Potential approaches to manipulate the content, composition, and technological properties of wheat proteins are therefore discussed, as well as the effects of using gluten isolates in various food systems. Finally, some aspects of the use of gluten‐free commodities are discussed.     

Influence of hydrocolloids on dough handling and technological properties of gluten-free breads

BackgroundThe development of gluten-free breads has attracted great attention as a result of better diagnoses of relationship between gluten-free products and health. The market demand for gluten-free products is increasing day by day due to growing number of celiac disease cases. Development of gluten-free bread remains a technological challenge due to the key role of gluten in the breadmaking process and in bread structure, appearance, texture and shelf life.Scope and approachThis review covers recent advances in the application of hydrocolloids in dough handling, technological and nutritional properties of gluten-free breads, which affect its quality and value.Key findings and conclusionsGluten-free breads results from the combination of different ingredients and hydrocolloids required to building up network structures responsible for bread quality. Various gluten-free formulations have applied hydrocolloids to mimic the viscoelastic properties of gluten. In addition, the impact of different hydrocolloids on the characteristics of dough and bread quality is known to be highly dependent on raw materials, the nature and quantity of hydrocolloids. Hydrocolloids improve the texture, increase the moisture content and extend the overall quality of bread. The results of the reviewed studies indicate that some of those products were acceptable and presented similar or better sensory attributes than control formulations and some were even comparable to their wheat-based counterparts. Based on successful applications of hydrocolloids, it is suggested that novel nutritious ingredients, combined with hydrocolloids can be added to gluten-free bread formulations to improve the quality of life.     

Understanding gluten‐free dough for reaching breads with physical quality and nutritional balance

In the last decade the development of gluten‐free foodstuffs has attracted great attention as a result of better diagnoses of coeliac disease and a greater knowledge of the relationship between gluten‐free products and health. The increasing interest has prompted extensive research into the development of gluten‐free foodstuffs that resemble gluten‐containing foods. This review aims to provide some insights on dough functionality and process conditions regarding bread quality and to point out recent research dealing with the nutritional composition of those products. Gluten‐free dough results from the combination of different ingredients, additives, and the processing aids required for building up network structures responsible for bread quality. Some relationships between dough rheology and bread characteristics were established to identify possible predictor parameters. Regarding bread‐making processes, the impact of mixing, dough treatment and baking is stated. Nutritional quality is an important asset when developing gluten‐free breads, and different strategies for improving it are reviewed. Gluten‐free bread quality is dependent on ingredients and additives combination, but also processing can provide a way to improve bread quality. Nutritive value of the gluten‐free breads must be always in mind when setting up recipes, for obtaining nutritionally balanced bread with adequate glycaemic index. © 2014 Society of Chemical Industry     

Inorganic and Total Arsenic Contents in Rice‐Based Foods for Children with Celiac Disease

Celiac disease is an autoimmune disease that affects the villi of the small intestine causing abdominal pain, gas, diarrhea, or bad absorption due to gluten intolerance. The only treatment for this disease consists of a lifelong gluten free diet; this is, celiac people cannot consume products containing gluten, such as wheat, barley, and rye, but they can use rice and corn. Thus, rice flour is mainly used for the manufacturing of the basic products of this population. Unfortunately, rice can contain high contents of total (t‐As) and inorganic (i‐As) arsenic. The current study demonstrated that products for celiac children with a high percentage of rice contained high concentrations of arsenic (256 and 128 μg kg^?1). The daily intake of i‐As ranged from 0.61 to 0.78 μg kg^?1 body weight (bw) in children up to 5 y of age; these values were below the maximum value established by the EFSA Panel (8.0 μg kg^?1 bw per day), but it should be considered typical of populations with a high exposure to this pollutant. Finally, legislation is needed to improve the labeling of these special rice‐based foods for celiac children; label should include information about percentage, geographical origin, and cultivar of the used rice.     

Food formulation and not processing level: Conceptual divergences between public health and food science and technology sectors

Observed changes in eating and drinking behaviors in economically developing countries are associated with increase of obesity and related chronic diseases. Researchers from field of public health (PH) have attributed this problem to food processing and have created new food classification systems to support their thesis. These classifications conceptually differ from processing level concepts in food science, and state to people that food processing is directly related to nutritional impact of food. Our work aims to compare the concept of food processing from the standpoint of food science and technology (FST) and public health and to discuss differences related to formulation or level of processing of products and their impact on nutritional quality. There is a misconception between food processing/unit operation/food technology and formulation or recipes. For the public health approach, classification is based on food products selection and the use of ingredients that results in higher consumption of sugar, sodium, fat, and additives, whereas in FST, processing level is based on the intensity and amount of unit operations to enhance shelf life, food safety, food quality, and availability of edible parts of raw materials. Nutritional quality of a product or preparation is associated with formulation/recipe and not with the level of processing, with few exceptions. The impact of these recommendations on the actual comprehension of food processing and quality must be considered by the population.     

无麸质食品品质改良研究进展

无麸质食品主要是针对乳糜泻疾病患者等对面筋蛋白过敏人群而生产的食品。由于无麸质食品的原料中不含面筋蛋白,在食品制作过程中面团难以形成有效的网络结构,不易成型,持水性、持气性、弹性和内聚性差,老化速率高。主要介绍无麸质食品采用的原料及其营养成分,综述通过添加功能成分和控制工艺技术来改善无麸质食品品质的研究进展,以期为无麸质食品品质改良研究与生产提供参考。     

国外“无麸质”食品的管理

为了规范"无麸质"(gluten free)食品标识,国际食品法典委员会、欧盟、美国、加拿大以及阿根廷等国相继发布了无麸质食品的相关法规或标准,定义了无麸质食品,提出了无麸质食品的质量控制、标注以及检测等方面的要求,并提出了管理及发展我国"无麸质"食品产业的对策。     

Characterization of Antibodies for Grain‐Specific Gluten Detection

Gluten ingestion causes immunoglobulin E (IgE)‐mediated allergy or celiac disease in sensitive individuals, and a strict gluten‐free diet greatly limits food choices. Immunoassays such as enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) are used to quantify gluten to ensure labeling compliance of gluten‐free foods. Anti‐gluten antibodies may not exhibit equal affinity to gluten from wheat, rye, and barley. Moreover, because wheat gluten is commonly used as a calibrator in ELISA, accurate gluten quantitation from rye and barley contaminated foods may be compromised. Immunoassays utilizing grain‐specific antibodies and calibrators may help improve gluten quantitation. In this study, polyclonal antibodies raised against gluten‐containing grain‐specific peptides were characterized for their immunoreactivity to gluten from different grain sources. Strong immunoreactivity to multiple gluten polypeptides from wheat, rye, and barley was observed in the range 34 to 43 kDa with anti‐gliadin, 11 to 15 and 72 to 95 kDa with anti‐secalin, and 30 to 43 kDa with anti‐hordein peptide antibodies, respectively. Minimal or no cross‐reactivity with gluten from other grains was observed among these antibodies. The anti‐consensus peptide antibody raised against a repetitive amino acid sequence of proline and glutamine exhibited immunoreactivity to gluten from wheat, rye, barley, and oat. The antibodies exhibited similar immunoreactivity with most of the corresponding grain cultivars by ELISA. The high specificity and minimal cross‐reactivity of grain‐specific antibodies suggest their potential use in immunoassays for accurate gluten quantitation.     

Food matrix impact on macronutrients nutritional properties

The food industry is aware of the consumer’s desire to purchase delicious, convenient and nutritious foods. Rapid development of functional foods has induced the food industry to evaluate and revise the composition of their processed foods as well as their processing conditions and methods to improve nutritional and health effects. The addition of new bioactive compounds to a food requires that the bioactive agent is in the active form by the time it reaches the gastrointestinal tract, where it is assimilated. However, the question is whether or not the processes and the composition of traditional foods are carefully balanced to ensure the optimal nutritional properties. This paper aims to review the concepts and facts that are the basis of the new area of research regarding the role of food structure on the nutritional properties of conventional and functional foods. Several original approaches have emerged, bringing together scientists from fields such as food science, nutrition and physiology, which bring enlightening new perspectives to the development of delicious and nutritional foods.