Antioxidant properties and physical, sensory and nutritional features of extruded corn-based breakfast cereal elaborated with whole-grain wheat flour, jabuticaba and resistant starch

Abstract

Extrusion is one of the most common processes used to obtain "ready-to-eat" (RTE) breakfast cereals, being starch their main structural component. This process submits the ingredients to conditions of heat, moisture, pressure and shear. Aware of the growing demand of consumers concerned with their health, studies have shown that it is possible to introduce ingredients that enhance the nutritional and/or functional value of extruded products and, in the case of breakfast cereals, whole-grain wheat flour, fruit products and resistant starch are examples with the potential of associating functionality to the product. Apart from fiber, fruits and cereals contain a variety of phytonutrients, including antioxidant compounds, also related to the reduction of the risk of chronic diseases. Resistant starch presents behavior similar to dietary fiber, and has been related to local and systemic beneficial effects (primarily in the large intestine and through a series of mechanisms, respectively). However, there are few studies related to the effect of processing on these physiologically functional compounds. The objective of this study is therefore to evaluate the effect of the substitution of corn flour (CF) by whole-grain wheat flour (WGWF) and/or "jabuticaba" peel flour (JF) and/or resistant starch (RS), extrusion temperature and raw-material moisture content on the technological, sensory and nutritional properties of a RTE breakfast cereal. The breakfast cereals will be produced following three 23 experimental designs to incorporate each of the functional ingredients (WGWF, JF and RS). The extruded products will be evaluated for the physical, chemical, nutritional and sensorial aspects, as well as analyses during shelf-life. (AU)