NATURALNESS IN PROCESSED FOODS: STUDY ON OBTAINING A PROTEIN-ENRICHED BAKERY PRODUCT BASED ON LEGUME GRAIN DERIVATIVES

• Grant number: 23/15462-1
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research
• Effective date (Start): November 01, 2024
• Effective date (End): December 05, 2024
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Food Science and Technology - Food Technology
• Principal Investigator: Elizabeth Harumi Nabeshima
• Grantee: Elizabeth Harumi Nabeshima
• Host Investigator: Dr Marco Gobbetti
• Host Institution: Instituto de Tecnologia de Alimentos (ITAL). Agência Paulista de Tecnologia dos Agronegócios (APTA). Secretaria de Agricultura e Abastecimento (São Paulo - Estado). Campinas , SP, Brazil
• Research place: Libera Università Di Bolzano, Italy
• Associated research grant: 17/50349-0 - Plan of institutional development in research of the Institute of Food Technology - ITAL (PDIp), AP.PDIP

Abstract

The seek for vegetable proteins has increased in recent years, mainly stimulated by the benefits conveyed in terms of nutritional aspects, healthiness and issues related to sustainability in the food production system. The use of vegetable proteins has been considered by the production sector as a more economical strategy to improve the nutritional and techno-functional quality of foods, as well as adding value to national raw materials, especially to their co-products generated during processing, with low commercial value, but with nutritional and functional value similar to its counterpart. On the other hand, the demanding Plant-based market, with requirements from the Clean Label movement, brings challenges to the food industries, to meet the demand for foods closer to natural, with few additives, less caloric ingredients, less processed and stable storage over time. Following the Clean Label trend, this study will use the physical method of extracting cowpea proteins through dry fractionation due to the environmental sustainability aspects without the use of chemical reagents and, consequently, free of effluents. However, with the concentration of proteins, the antinutritional compounds present in beans also become more concentrated. According to the literature (Gobbeti et al., 2019; De Pasquale, 2020; Gobbetti; Gänzle, 2023), the use of long fermentation with sourdough containing selected microorganisms can be an important tool to management of antinutritional compounds, such as raffinose, phytic acid, condensed tannins, alkaloids, lectins, pyrimidine glycosides (e.g.: vicine and convicine), saponins and protease inhibitors. In this context, the project developed at the Institute of Food Technology - Ital, aims to study the effect of the interaction between macro and micronutrients in a food system based on whole grains and vegetable proteins subjected to long fermentation using an ecosystem based on lactic acid bacteria (sourdough) to evaluate their technological, sensorial and nutritional impact. The technological, physical and sensory aspects were developed at Ital, and the chemical analyzes in partnership with Embrapa. To complete the project, nutritional assessments are planned through the Research Abroad Grant (BPE), and analyzed at the Facoltà di Scienze Agrarie, Ambientali e Alimentari of the Free University of Bolzano, located in Bolzano, BL, Italy.