88-12 |
Changes in nutraceutical potential of quinoa by thermal and alkaline processing |
M. V. KARWE, K. T. Brady, R. T. Rosen, and C. T. Ho. Dept. of Food Science, Rutgers, The State Univ. of New Jersey, 65 Dudley Rd., New Brunswick, NJ 08901-8520 Quinoa, a pseudo-cereal with a history dating back to the pre-Colombian Andean people, has been recently identified to have promising potential in overcoming the world’s food shortage and has been considered as a potential crop for NASA’s Controlled Ecological Life Support System. This plant can bear the utmost barren cultivation conditions while providing a high nutrition content, as well as great usability of the whole plant. Processed quinoa seeds can be used to provide humans with a more nutritionally balanced diet with a potentially positive influence on optimal health. The objective of our research was to investigate and quantify the effect of thermal and alkaline processing on the nutraceutical potential in quinoa. Extrusion, steam preconditioning, roasting, and nixtamalization were applied to quinoa flour. Processed samples were subjected to successive extractions with methanol and ethyl acetate. Reverse phase HPLC, GC, MS and NMR spectroscopy were utilized to identify key nutraceuticals. HPLC analysis of steam preconditioned samples showed insignificant changes in the nutraceutical profile of quinoa. HPLC analysis of extruded and roasted samples indicated process enhanced compounds. GC analysis of raw quinoa confirmed the strong presence of linoleic acid, which has been suggested as a potential precursor for the formation of conjugated linoleic acid (CLA). Preliminary analysis of nixtamalized and roasted quinoa samples revealed a considerable increase in the biologically active conjugated isomers. Results illustrate an increase in the nutraceutical potential of quinoa after processing. CLA compounds were increased during nixtamalization and roasting, and have been shown to possess many health benefits including inhibition of tumors and atherosclerosis. Identification of select processes and optimizing the processing parameters will enable the industry to deliver a value-added product to the consumers.
Session 88, Nutraceuticals & Functional Foods: General
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