In search of better snacks: ohmic‐heating nixtamalized flour and amaranth addition increase the nutraceutical and nutritional potential of vegetable‐enriched tortilla chips

Abstract

BACKGROUND Nixtamalized flour snacks such as tortilla chips are widely consumed across the world, but they are nutritionally poor and contribute to obesity and other non‐communicable diseases. The production of healthy versions of such snacks, by incorporating vegetables and improving the quality of the flours used in their formulation, could help address these nutritional challenges. This study compared the fortification of baked tortilla chips with vegetable leaf powders (kale and wild amaranth at 0%, 4%, 8%, and 16% w/w) and using two types of nixtamalized flour: traditional (TNF) and with ohmic heating (OHF). RESULTS Overall, the use of OHF increased 1.88 times the fibre in enriched and non‐enriched snacks with respect to TNF, but the latter had 1.85 times more protein. Addition of 16% of vegetable powders increased protein (kale = 1.4‐fold; amaranth = 1.3‐fold) and dietary fibre (kale = 1.52‐fold; amaranth = 1.7‐fold). Amaranth enrichment improved total phenolic content (TPC) and total flavonoid content (TFC) of chips at least 1.2 and 1.63 times, respectively. OHF chips also had higher bound TPC than TNF ones, regardless of vegetable addition. Combinations of OHF with 16% amaranth produced chips 1.74‐fold higher in antioxidant capacity than non‐enriched ones, due to increased content of phenolics such as ferulic acid. CONCLUSION This work showed that tortilla chips made using nixtamalized flour produced with assisted ohmic heating, alone or in combination with wild amaranth leaf powder, could be used in the production of healthy maize snacks to enhance their prospective antioxidant activity and nutritional value. © 2023 Society of Chemical Industry.

Evaluation of anti-diabetic potential of Syzygium cumini seed (SCS) powder infused tortilla as therapeutic diet to mitigate hyperglycemia

“…Such composite flour samples were used to make tortillas of regular sizes. Round tortillas of 20 cm diameter were developed by following the already reported methods of Kapoor et al [14] and Dominguiz-Hernandez et al [15]. Briefly, 100g of each of composite wheat flour samples (0%, 2%, 4% and 6 %) was mixed with desired quantity of distilled water to make viscoelastic dough; amount of water taken up by each sample was regarded as % water absorption (Table 1).…”

Oxidative Stability of Avocado Snacks Formulated with Olive Extract as an Active Ingredient for Novel Food Production

“…On the other hand, although ready-to-eat snacks offer considerable market potential, they are perceived as unhealthy products due to their high energetic value, their salt and fat content, and the presence of trans-saturated fatty acids. Some studies reported in the literature have tested the feasibility of different drying treatments to monitor the modifications in physicochemical parameters of vegetable-based chips such as potato [ 31 , 32 ], pumpkin [ 33 ], jujube [ 34 ], or apples [ 35 ]. However, the addition of natural antioxidant extracts based on agricultural byproducts as a natural ingredient has not been extensively reported.…”

In vivo study of the biological value of amaranth protein concentrate and its module with chicken egg protein

“…Ассортимент в основном представлен макаронными изделиями (вермишель, спагетти и др.) [13][14][15][16], продуктами хлебопекарного производства (хлеб [17], печенье [18,19]) и снеками [20,21]. Макаронные изделия получают с включением в состав 10-30% амарантовой муки [13][14][15][16].…”