Influence of Quinoa Flour on Quality Characteristics of Cookie, Bread and Chinese Steamed Bread

Abstract

Quinoa has unique physicochemical and nutritional properties among diverse food grains. Quinoa flour (QF) was blended into wheat flour (WF) at weight ratios of 85/15, 70/30, 55/45, 40/60, 25/75 and 10/90 to formulate composite flour for the production of cookie, bread and Chinese steamed bread (CSB). Physicochemical properties of quinoa–wheat composite flour (QWCF) and quality characteristics of the bakery products were characterized. The feasibility of using QF in CSB making was explored for the first time. Compared with products of WF, the resulting products from QWCF had reduced specific volume, and increased density, hardness and chewiness of the texture, darkness, redness, and yellowness of the color. The mold‐free shelf life of bread and CSB increased as a function of QF level. The influence of QF addition on the physicochemical properties of bakery products is product‐type sensitive. Practical Applications Addition of quinoa flour diversifies wheat flour products with certain modification on physicochemical and nutritional qualities, and thus could expand both flours in overall food applications. These findings could provide some insights for industrial research and development using quinoa grain for novel bakery products.

Formulation and Quality Attributes of Quinoa Food Products

“…Focusing on microbial spoilage, Hager et al (2012) found the first mould growth in breads from 100 % WF and 100 % QF (packed in a plastic bag) appeared on days 4 and 3, respectively. Wang et al (2015) also found that adding QF to WF bread prolonged the mould-free shelf lives of both bread and Chinese steamed bread. The visual appearances of the representative slices of breads of 100 % WF and QF (45 %) and WF (55 %) mixture stored at room temperature under aerobic conditions are depicted in Fig 4 ( Wang et al 2015).…”

“…Wang et al (2015) also found that adding QF to WF bread prolonged the mould-free shelf lives of both bread and Chinese steamed bread. The visual appearances of the representative slices of breads of 100 % WF and QF (45 %) and WF (55 %) mixture stored at room temperature under aerobic conditions are depicted in Fig 4 ( Wang et al 2015). The prolonged microbiological shelf life of bread could be due to the lower water activity of QF-containing bread than that of WF bread (Rodriguez-Sandoval et al 2012), and the presence of antimicrobial phytochemicals such as phenolics in quinoa grains (Miranda et al 2014).…”

“…4 Visual appearance of bread slices (20 mm thickness) stored at room temperature for 1, 6, 9, 12 and 15 days. WF100 100 % wheat flour, WF55/ QF45 55 % wheat flour and 45 % quinoa flour (Wang et al 2015;unpublished results) by 47 %. This was likely due to compositional difference in phytochemical antioxidants of the samples, which responded somewhat differently in each type of evaluation assays.…”

“…The fermented dough is steamed, instead of baking (Zhu 2014). The feasibility of incorporating QF up to 75 % of flour in CSB was studied (Wang et al 2015). It was difficult to form any consistent dough when the level of QF addition was over 80 % (Wang et al 2015).…”

“…According to Gómez-Caravaca et al (2011), free and bound phenolics of two Peruvian varieties were 2.746-3.803 and 0.139-0.164 g/kg, respectively. The dominant polyphenols in Peruvian seeds These anti-microbial polyphenols probably prolonged the mould-free shelf life of bread (Fig.4) and Chinese steamed bread (Wang et al 2015).…”