Development of innovative and high nutritional value foods from native legume species

Abstract

There is nowadays an important trend in the habits of human food consumption in which natural, healthy, ready-to-eat and safe elaborates are required. An example of this trend is the development of fresh-cut or minimally processed fruit and vegetables. Legumes are an excellent source of many essential nutrients, including proteins and aminoacids, minerals, fiber, vitamins, slow-assimilation carbohydrates and other bioactive compounds, and are low in calories and fat. However, the bioavailability of some nutrients can be reduced by several legume compounds, which are considered to be antinutritional compounds. Nevertheless, such compounds have also been reported to have beneficial health properties. Therefore, the consumption of legumes should be promoted by looking for new ways of presentation in where the product can be consumed fresh and cooked in a suitable container. Legumes are usually consumed as fresh seeds. However, different cooking methods can also be used. This food preparation may cause changes in texture, colour, flavour, or bioactive content. One of these methods is microwave cooking, in which a healthy product could be obtained in a short time without loosing quality. One of the most critical steps in the development of fresh-cut products is disinfection. Although the use of NaOCl is widespread in the industry due to its antimicrobial activity and low cost, it is examined due to the appearance of toxic by-products. Therefore, the study of alternative sanitizing methods is necessary. Others disinfectants, like acidified sodium chlorite (ASC) have been largely applied for the prevention of enzymatic and non-enzymatic browning and, in less extent, to reduce microbial growth at levels that did not adversely affect the sensory quality. Furthermore, UV light can also be an alternative, useful for superficial decontamination, because UV light acts as an antimicrobial agent directly by damaging the microbial DNA and indirectly due to the stimulation of defence mechanisms in vegetables against pathogens, retarding decay and delaying senescence. In addition, edible antimicrobial films or coatings can avoid enzymatic browning and improve quality, safety, shelf life and functionality of food products by reducing moisture transfer, respiration rate and oxidative processes, while minimizing both spoilage and pathogenic microorganisms.