Search

This study shows the effects of blanching, citric acid addition, and drying temperature on the freeze-drying kinetics, l -ascorbic acid content, colour, and antioxidant activity of freeze-dried pepper. The process was performed at 20 °C, 40 °C, and 60 °C and with a constant pressure in a drying chamber at 63 Pa. The samples of pepper were pulped before drying. Blanching of pepper reduced the drying time to approximately 30%. The shortest drying time (about 290 min) was found for blanched pepper that was freeze-dried at 60 °C, whereas the samples of pepper freeze-dried at 20 °C and without blanching required the longest drying time (about 900 min). The kinetics of freeze-drying of pepper pulp are best described by using the Page model. The addition of citric acid increased the redness and yellowness of dried pepper, whereas an increase in drying temperature caused a decrease in the total phenolics content, antioxidant activity, and colour coordinates of all samples. The highest l -ascorbic acid content was found in unblanched pepper and when the temperature of drying did not exceed 40 °C. Water blanching pretreatment had the most negative effect on total phenolics content and antioxidant activity of dried pepper.

The nutritional potential and selected enzyme inhibitory properties of wheat bread fortified with coffee beans (1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 g/100 g, B1-B5, respectively) were investigated. Replacement of wheat flour with powdered green coffee beans (GCB) significantly decreased the total protein content only in the case of B4. The characteristic starch parameters such as the total starch content, resistant starch, and starch digestibility did not differ significantly between the control bread (C) and the enriched bread samples. Only potentially bioavailable starch was significantly lower in B4 and B5 (311.84 and 325.34 mg/g d.w., respectively), compared with C (392.67 mg/g d.w.). The bread with GCB was characterized by a higher hydrolysis index and expected glycemic index than C but these changes had no significant effect. Moreover, the EC 50 value of ACE inhibition noted for bread B2-B5 was significantly lower (in the range of 1.6–7.77 mg/mL) than in C (17.96 mg/mL). The fortification with GCB had an influence on lipase inhibitory activity, whereas this property was not detected for C. The lowest EC 50 value was noted for bread B3 and B5 (3.00 and 2.02 mg/mL, respectively). The addition of GCB to bread had no significant effect on α-amylase and α-glucosidase inhibitory activity.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of carob fiber on pasta properties. Common wheat flour was substituted with 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 g/100 g of carob fiber. Pasta properties including firmness, color, cooking time, sensory analysis, and antioxidant properties were evaluated. The results showed that carob fiber slightly increased the weight increase index and decreased the optimum cooking time. The lightness of pasta strongly decreased with the proportion of carob fiber, from 61.7 to 26.5 and from 55.8 to 38.6 for uncooked and cooked samples, respectively, whereas the total color difference changed from 24.4 to 38.6 and from 9.6 to 17.2, respectively. A linear decrease in pasta cutting force was observed as the proportion of carob fiber increased. The sensory evaluation of pasta showed that the additive decreased scores for pasta smell but increased scores for color evaluation. Carob fiber up to 4 g/100 g of wheat flour had little effect on pasta's overall acceptability and significantly increased total phenolics content and antioxidant activity of samples. Digestion in vitro caused an increase in total phenolics content and antioxidant activity.

The primary objectives of this study were to investigate the quality of no-salt wheat bread prepared with a mixture of herbs (MH) using a method involving the addition of scalded flour and to compare this method to the traditional single-phase method. In the case of the single-phase method, MH (thyme, lemon balm, and nettle (1:1:1)) was added in the form of dried herbs at a level ranging from 3% to 12% (every 3%) to the dough, whereas in the case of scalded flour, MH was added as an infusion (at concentrations ranging from 0, 12, 24, 26, and 48 mg/mL). According to our results, an increase in the level of MH caused a decrease in the volume of the bread and an increase in the total phenolic content and antioxidant activity of the prepared bread. Moreover, with the addition of MH, there was a decrease in the brightness and a slight decrease in the redness of the crumb. The use of scalded flour resulted in lower crumb hardness and chewiness than that of the single-phase method. According to the sensory evaluation, scalded flour method can be used in the production of good quality no-salt bread with the addition of MH with up to 24 mg/mL of herbal infusion.

In this study, we aimed to evaluate the effect of cereal coffee (CC) on the properties of pasta. The pasta was prepared by the substitution of common wheat flour with 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 g/100 g CC. Next, various properties of pasta including texture, colour, cooking properties, sensory analysis, and antioxidant activity were evaluated. CC significantly decreased lightness and increased redness of both raw and cooked pasta. CC reduced optimal cooking time and increased cooking losses of pasta. The addition of 5 g CC/into100 g wheat flour significantly increased the deformation and stretching work of cooked pasta. According to the sensory evaluation of the pasta samples, CC had a positive effect on the smell, taste, and colour of pasta. More importantly, during sensory evaluation, an increased amount of CC resulted in a decrease in adhesiveness of the pasta. Pasta with CC was characterised by a higher total phenolic content and a higher antioxidant capacity. Cooking decreased the amount of total phenolic compounds from 12 to 15%. In summary, we recommend the substitution of CC (up to 4 g/100 g) in common wheat flour for the preparation of pasta.

Physical, sensory and antioxidant properties of wheat bread enriched with sumac flour (SF) with normal and reduced amounts of salt were investigated. SF was added to replace wheat flour at a proportion of 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 g/100 g. Furthermore, the breads were prepared with normal and reduced amounts of salt (1.5 and 0.5 g/100 g, respectively). The incorporation of SF led to a decrease in bread volume and an increase in crumb hardness, especially when it was added in an amount of more than 2 g/100 g. Salt reduction did not negatively influence these parameters. The addition of SF caused a decrease in lightness and yellowness of crumb, but an increase in redness. SF enriched the wheat bread with phenolic compounds. Hence, the total phenolics content increased with the increase in SF from 5.4 to 15.2 mg gallic acid equivalent per 100 g of dry mass. This in turn led to an increase in the antioxidant capacity. The sensory evaluation indicated that salt reduction did not negatively influence bread quality when SF was added to wheat flour. Regarding the bread quality, the addition of SF should not exceed 3 g/100 g.