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Food-to-food fortification is an emerging technique to enrich the micronutrients in foods. Pertaining to this technique, noodles could also be fortified with natural fortificants. In this study, marjoram leaf powder (MLP) at a level of 2–10% was used as a natural fortificant to produce fortified rice noodles (FRNs) through an extrusion process. The MLP addition caused a significant increase in the iron, calcium, protein, and fiber in the FRNs. The noodles had a lower whiteness index than unfortified noodles but had a similar water absorption index. The water solubility index increased significantly due to the higher water retention ability of MLP. A rheological study showed a minimal effect of fortification on the gelling strength of the FRNs at lower levels. The microstructural studies found incremental cracks, which facilitated a lower cooking time and hardness but had an insignificant effect on the cooked noodle texture. Fortification improved the total phenolic content, antioxidant capacity, and total flavonoid content. However, no significant changes in bonds were observed, but a reduction in the noodles’ crystallinity could be seen. The sensory analysis of the noodles reflected a higher acceptability of the 2–4% MLP fortified samples compared to the others. Overall, the MLP addition improved the nutritional content, antioxidant activity, and the cooking time but slightly affected the rheological, textural, and color properties of the noodles.

The protein content of a plant-based ingredient is generally lower than its animal food counterpart, and research into novel alternative protein is required that can provide similar protein content, texture and appearance as meat. This work investigates a mycelium-based low moisture meat analogue (LMMA) approach, by incorporating 0 to 40% w/w mycelium (MY) into pea protein isolate (PPI) via extrusion using a twin-screw extruder at 140 °C die temperature, 40 rpm screw speed, and 10 rpm feeder speed (0.53–0.54 kg/h). Physicochemical, rehydration, and structural properties of LMMA were assessed. The MY incorporation led to a significant change in color attributes due to Maillard reaction during extrusion. Water solubility index and water absorption capacity increased significantly with MY addition, owing to its porous structure. Oil absorption capacity increased due to increased hydrophobic interactions post-extrusion. Protein solubility decreased initially (upto 20% w/w MY), and increased afterwards, while the water holding capacity (WHC) and volumetric expansion ratio (VER) of LMMA enhanced with MY addition upto 30% w/w. Conversely, WHC and VER decreased for 40% w/w which was verified with the microstructure and FTIR analysis. Overall, MY (30% w/w) in PPI produced a fibrous and porous LMMA, showing future potential with an increasingly plant-based product market and decreasing carbon footprint of food production activities.

Food-to-food fortification (FtFF) is an emerging technique used to enrich nutrient-deficient foods by adding foods with relatively high amounts of one or more than one type of micro- and macronutrients. The dried leaves of herbs such as basil, marjoram, and spearmint have excellent nutritional properties. These can fortify staple raw materials such as rice flour (RF) to produce gluten-free fortified products. Thus, in this study, an attempt was made to find the effect of these dried herbs on the physicochemical and nutritional properties of RF with skim milk powder (SMP) (3% w/w) already added at different fortification levels (FLs) (1–4% w/w). The physicochemical and nutritional properties viz., water absorption index (WAI), water solubility index (WSI), oil absorption capacity (OAC), water absorption capacity (WAC), solubility (SL), iron (Fe), and proximate analysis were calculated. Results showed insignificant (p > 0.05) changes in all physicochemical properties at 1% addition of marjoram, spearmint, and basil as compared to the control. Further, an insignificant (p > 0.05) increase in WAI was noticed at 2% addition of marjoram, spearmint, and basil. Similar, no significant (p > 0.05) change in WAI was noticed up to the highest FL in all fortificants. An opposite behavior was observed with the WSI for marjoram; however, no significant (p > 0.05) change was observed with spearmint among all FLs. In addition, basil at 4% fortification caused a significant (p < 0.05) increase in WSI as compared to control. For WAC, neither marjoram nor spearmint resulted in any significant (p > 0.05) change among all FLs but basil at 4% showed a significant (p < 0.05) change. A similar result was noticed for SL. Nevertheless, a significant (p < 0.05) color change was observed at all FLs. The iron, protein, and crude fiber levels were significant (p < 0.05) and they all improved at 4% fortification. A similar result was noticed for carbohydrate, energy, and crude fat levels with a higher FL. This study will help food processors to formulate fortified foods using dried herbs.