Physicochemical, functional, and quality properties of fettuccine pasta added with huitlacoche mushroom ( Ustilago maydis )

Abstract

Fettuccine-type pasta was made from wheat semolina mixed with 5%, 10%, 15%, 20%, and 25% of huitlacoche mushroom powder (HMUP), and the effect on quality, physicochemical, antioxidant capacity, and color properties was studied. Proximate analysis studies on the pasta showed that a higher content of HMUP in the mixture increases lipids, fiber, and ash levels, without affecting protein content. Cooking time in the pasta decreased with increasing HMUP. Quality parameters as cooking loss, cooking weight gained, solubility index, and swelling were influenced by increased HMUP in the pasta. Luminosity (L*) values decreased drastically as HMUP increased.Cooking also influenced color parameters (ΔL* and ΔC*), Antioxidant capacity (DPPH, ABTS, FRAP) and total phenols increased with higher HMUP concentrations in raw and cooked pasta. These results suggest that HMUP could be incorporated into semolina flour to prepare fettuccine-type pasta, conferring healthy characteristics due to the preservation of antioxidant capacity after cooking.Novelty impact statement: Huitlacoche powder concentration (5% to 25%) does not affect the quality properties of the pasta. Furthermore, increase of this concentration, caused a higher antioxidant activity, and a preservation of this activity by up to 40% even after the cooking process.

Huitlacoche (Ustilago maydis), an Iconic Mexican Fungal Resource: Biocultural Importance, Nutritional Content, Bioactive Compounds, and Potential Biotechnological Applications

“…Regarding articles published by Mexican authors, publications also contain molecular studies related to U. maydis aiming to develop strategies for increasing huitlacoche yield, and diverse dynamics to harvest this fungal resource have also been evaluated [56,61,66,67]. Nonetheless, Mexican research is also focused on the nutritional, physicochemical, thermal, and rheological characterization of huitlacoche powder and its use in the development of functional foods [8,[68][69][70], as well as the identification of bioactive compounds and their potential biological activities for pharmaceutical applications [6,55,[63][64][65].…”

“…Huitlacoche is an edible fungal resource containing many phytochemical compounds with potential biological properties and health benefits [6,8,15,64,65]. Identified compounds (quantitative or qualitative) include polyphenols, flavonoids, carotenoids, phytosterols, purine-derived, and terpenoids, among others (Table 4).…”

“…Phenolic, flavonoids, and carotenoids are recognized as antioxidant compounds that exhibit potential health benefits and pharmaceutical and food industrial applications. The main phenolic compounds reported in huitlacoche include ferulic (358 µg/g), sinapic (36 µg/g), chlorogenic (15.94 µg/g), p-coumaric (12 µg/g), and caffeic (11.2 µg/g) acids [6,8,15,64,65]. Furthermore, the presence of flavonoids such as anthocyanins (89.8-226 mg/kg cyanidin-3-glucoside), quercetin (33 µg/g), naringenin (14 µg/g), catechin (10-11 µg/g), and rutin (5 µg/g) [15,[63][64][65] has been reported, while β-Carotene (15 µg/g) and β-Cryptoxanthin (1.13 µg/g) are the most representative carotenoid compounds reported in huitlacoche [65,85].…”

“…In general, huitlacoche exhibited good antioxidant properties (Table 5). Nonetheless, multiple extraction methods (maceration, ultrasound-assisted, stirring, and shaking) and various solvents (ethanol and methanol either alone or combined with water) can be used to obtain antioxidant extracts from huitlacoche samples [6,8,15,[63][64][65]. Ethanolic extracts from huitlacoche powder have shown to exhibit antioxidant activity by ABTS (200-312 mmol of trolox equivalents (TE)/mL), DPPH (30-165 mmol TE/mL) and FRAP (11-251 mmol TE/mL); nonetheless, it has been reported that the antioxidant activity of huitlacoche is increased after a cooking process, associated with the release of phenolic compounds from the food matrix [64].…”

“…By contrast, in Mexico, U. maydis is considered a delicacy that is consumed by 21 ethnic groups, and it is known by a variety of names in traditional languages (Table 1), which denotes its ancestral use. Due to the fact that this fungus is only consumed traditionally in Mexico, and in no other country, it is considered an icon of the national cuisine [8,9] and an alternative crop with agro-alimentary importance due to its nutritive value [10]. Additionally, in Mexico, it is used to heal 55 different diseases, being the fungal species with the greatest importance in traditional Mexican medicine [11][12][13][14].…”