Reference Number: 36
Year: 2013
Link: Link to original paper
Summary
Summary
This study investigated the effect of replacing wheat flour by whole Amaranthus cruentus flour (up to 40 g/100 g) to evaluate its potential utility as a nutritious breadmaking ingredient. The incorporation of amaranth flour significantly increased protein, lipid, ash, dietary fibre and mineral contents. Breads with amaranth have significantly higher amounts of phytates and lower myo-inositol phosphates, which could predict low mineral bioavailability at high levels of substitution (30–40 g/100 g). An increase in crumb hardness and elasticity was observed, and tristimulus colour values were significantly affected when the amaranth concentration was raised. Mineral contents, both micro- and macroelements, were increased significantly by the wheat flour substitution. Whole amaranth flour could be used as a partial replacement for wheat flour in bread formulations, increasing the product’s nutritional value and raising dietary fibre, mineral and protein levels, with a significant slight depreciation in bread quality when used in proportions between 10 and 20 g/100 g. Thus, the inclusion of amaranth flour could be limited to a maximum proportion of 20 g/100 g, thereby maintaining both product quality as well as the nutritional benefit of this ingredient.
SIGNIFICANCE OF THIS STUDY
The current study showed that amaranth flour can be used as a substitute instead of wheat flour for an additional nutritional boost. However, amaranth flour was shown to have high phytic acid levels which was shown to inhibit the absorption of minerals when tested on a cell line (in-vitro). However, previous studies have shown that lactic acid bacteria in sourdough has the ability to reduce phytic acid levels thereby increasing mineral bioavailability of wholegrains such as wheat. The sourdough process may reduce phytic acid levels in amaranth flour, however this needs to be tested.
