Gluten free noodles have been made from a variety of ingredients, but very often without applying ingredients and process knowledge. Aim of this study was to build up gluten free noodles using tiger nut flour, a selection of hydrocolloids (guar gum, xanthan gum, inulin and carboxymethyl cellulose) and considering the impact of dough hydration in noodles making. Dough rheology, fresh noodles characteristics, cooking quality indicators and noodles quality after cooking were evaluated. Results showed that hydration level significantly affected dough rheology during mixing, heating and cooling, with a significant (P< 0.05) impact on hardness and firmness of fresh noodles and adhesiveness and firmness of cooked noodles. Hydrocolloids type significantly affected the characteristics of fresh and cooked noodles, but the extent of their effect was dependent on the hydration level applied during noodles making. In general, hydrocolloids increased dough consistency, resulting in fresh noodles with higher diameter, hardness and firmness, trend that was maintained after cooking, reducing cooking losses. In particular, gluten free tiger nut noodles made in the presence of 0.5% xanthan gum and adjusting the amount of water showed the best performance, with low cooking losses and high firmness.

Tiger nut (TN) is a nutritious source of gluten-free flour, used generally in healthy beverages, but its incorporation in gluten-free extruded snacks has not been explored. TN flour was blended at different concentrations (up to 70%) with rice flour and soluble fiber, for the development of gluten-free snacks on a twin-screw extruder. The effect of TN inclusion in the formulations was evaluated on relevant physiochemical characteristics of the snacks. Viscoamylograph of the raw formulations showed that TN addition increased (p < 0.01) onset temperature and delayed peak viscosity. In the extruded flours, TN contributed to limit the starch degradation during extrusion. Diameter, expansion ratio, true density, and total pore volume of the extrudates were reduced (pf < 0.01) by the increased TN content in the formulations, while bulk density rose. The surfaces of the extruded snacks were modified by the increasing inclusion of TN in substitution of rice in the formulations. Extrudates containing 10% TN showed the best overall texture profile. Moreover, TN addition enhanced the ash and protein content of the snacks and increased their total antioxidant activity. This study demonstrated that incorporation of 10% TN flour into rice-based formulation was suitable for making gluten-free snacks with acceptable physical properties.

The quality and safety indicators of commercial dried gluten free (GF) pasta were analyzed to investigate, for the first time, the real nutritional intake through the chemical composition and the heat damage during processing by quantification of furosine. Eight samples of GF spaghetti were compared with wheat spaghetti. Dried and cooked GF pasta had lower protein and ash content than wheat spaghetti. GF samples composed solely by corn flour had higher optimal cooking time. Samples with emulsifier showed lower losses during cooking. Considering their composition, no trend could be established to explain textural behavior. Samples constituted merely by corn showed the highest resilience and elasticity. Spaghetti constituted only from corn and rice showed the highest firmness. The furosine content in dried samples ranged between 19-134 mg FUR/100 g proteins and in cooked samples ranged between 48 to 360 mg FUR/100 g proteins. Furosine content of GF pasta was in general lower than in wheat pasta, and those differences were even enlarged when comparing them after cooking. The results of PCA indicated it was possible to discriminate GF pasta regarding their technological and nutritional behavior.

Nowadays, a growing offering of plant-based meat alternatives is available in the food market. Technologically, these products are produced through high-moisture shear technology. Process settings and material composition have a significant impact on the physicochemical characteristics of the final products. Throughout the process, the unfolded protein chains may be reduced, or associate in larger structures, creating rearrangement and cross-linking during the cooling stage. Generally, soy and pea proteins are the most used ingredients in plant-based meat analogues. Nevertheless, these proteins have shown poorer results with respect to the typical fibrousness and juiciness found in real meat. To address this limitation, wheat gluten is often incorporated into the formulations. This literature review highlights the key role of wheat gluten in creating products with higher anisotropy. The generation of new disulfide bonds after the addition of wheat gluten is critical to achieve the sought-after fibrous texture, whereas its incompatibility with the other protein phase present in the system is critical for the structuring process. However, allergenicity problems related to wheat gluten require alternatives, hence an evaluation of underutilized plant-based proteins has been carried out to identify those that potentially can imitate wheat gluten behavior during high-moisture shear processing.