Technology Transfer Services

Innovative gluten free bakery products with an improved nutritional profile, sensory characteristics and shelf life, formulated by alternative plant raw materials and produced by traditional technologies

Code: 21-AUT-03

The Opportunity

Gluten-related disorders are all conditions that are related to consumption of gluten containing food items and can be managed merely by strict adherence at a gluten-free diet; these gluten-associated conditions include celiac disease, wheat allergies, dermatitis herpetiformis, gluten ataxia and nonceliac gluten sensitivity (NCGS), a recently accepted distinct clinical entity. Moreover, consumer data (food product preferences) reveal a notable increase of gluten-free target audience due to increased number of diagnoses of the above disorders, as well as growing awareness of these ailments among patients; these trends have stimulated a rather broad expansion of the gluten-free product market. However, most of the gluten-free baked goods (e.g., bread, muffins, biscuits) in the market have high prices, poor sensory properties, short shelf life and there is also a concern for their nutritional value because they are often characterized by high levels of sugars and fat and reduced concentration of dietary fibers, vitamins, minerals and antioxidants, resulting in increased risk of chronic disease incidence such as diabetes type 2, cardiovascular diseases and obesity. Therefore, the development and formulation of gluten free bakery products with high nutritional value, acceptable sensory attributes and increased shelf life still is a challenge for the food industry. Alternative plant raw materials, such as some cereal and pseudocereal grains, legume and oil seeds and nuts can be used for the formulation of gluten free bakery products that will allow enhancement of the nutritional profile of these products, while traditional technologies, such as incorporation of sourdough, roasting and sprouting of added grains and seeds will contribute to the improvement of sensory characteristics and the shelf life of the developed baked goods and thus, increase the consumer acceptance.

Our Offer

Gluten is the main structure-building protein in baked products, responsible for the elasticity and extensibility of the dough as well as for retaining of gas produced by yeast fermentation resulting in palatable products with high loaf volume, fine structure and enhanced flavor retention. On the other hand, absence of gluten leads to a liquid batter rather than an elastic dough, unable of retaining the produced carbon dioxide and end-products with poor flavor, hard and crumbly crumb, low volume, coarse crumb porosity and increased staling rate. Moreover, the typical main ingredients of gluten free bakery products are rice and corn flours, as well as corn, potato and cassava starches having a poor nutritional profile and largely contributing to increased glycemic responses upon consumption of such ingredients.

Alternative plant raw materials, such as cereal (oat, sorghum) and pseudocereal grains (quinoa, buckwheat), legumes (chickpea, lentils, yellow split pea) and oil seeds (flax, sesame) as well as nuts (acorn, chestnut) are proposed for partial substitution of rice flour and pure starches into gluten free bakery product formulations (e.g., bread, muffins, rusks, bagels, biscuits) due to their high levels of proteins with a better amino acid profile than cereals and high contents of dietary fibers, polyunsaturated fatty acids and phenolic compounds and therefore, their use can lead to baked goods with improved nutritional value, low glycemic index and nutrient-dense raw materials enriched with bioactive compounds. These alternative gluten free ingredients can be used in combination with traditional technologies based on bioprocessing methods or following appropriate thermal treatments, such as sourdough made from gluten free flours (e.g., chickpea, rice), and seed sprouting and/or roasting (e.g., chickpea, lentils, yellow split pea). These technologies can contribute to improvement of sensory attributes, that is high loaf volume, soft texture and enhanced flavor and taste and extended shelf-life through inhibition of crumb hardening, moisture loss and fungal growth.

The Technology

These approaches to develop novel gluten free baked goods and overcome both technological and nutritional challenges that are usually involved in production of gluten free bakery products are based on use of alternatives ingredients (cereal and pseudocereal grains, legume and oil seeds and nuts) with high nutritional value and content of bioactive compounds, combined with traditional bioprocessing methods (sourdough fermentation and sprouting) and/or thermal treatments (roasting) for improvement of nutritional value and bioavailability of nutrients as well as enhancement of product sensory attributes (roasting and sourdough). However, incorporation of these nutritionally advantageous raw materials into gluten free bakery products can be a challenge since it may negatively affect the physicochemical and sensorial attributes of the end-product, resulting in lower loaf volume, unfavorable flavor and taste (e.g., “beany” flavor from added legume flours) and high levels of anti-nutrients (e.g., legumes, acorn). Therefore, several technologies have been employed in our laboratory to overcome these hurdles. Bioprocessing methods, such as addition of sourdough made by lactic acid fermentation or fermented extracts from chickpea has been employed as alternative physical leavened agents; the latter sourdough is used in a Greek traditional bread called ‘eftazymo’. Both type of the above sourdoughs can increase loaf volume and improve crumb texture attributed to enzymic activity and gas formation during fermentation by the microflora, acting as flavor enhancers, sources of bioactive compounds (e.g., dietary fibers, organic acids, antioxidants, prebiotics) and antifungal factors. As a result, there is improvement of sensory and nutritional properties of gluten-free products and extension of their self-life. Moreover, germination of the added grains and seeds that result in their sprouting can be applied before their incorporation into the gluten free bakery formulations. During germination, sugar content is increased, which leads to a more pleasant, sweet taste and at the same time the “beany” flavor of legumes is largely eliminated. In addition, the enzymic systems that are activated may work as natural dough improvers and increase the bioavailability of nutrients by reducing anti-nutrient factors. Regarding roasting, caramelization and Maillard browning reactions that take place during such treatments can further alleviate the off-flavors through the production of pleasant nutty flavor notes.

Advantages & Innovations

• The nutritional profile of the gluten free bakery products can be improved by the incorporation of alternative grains, seeds and nuts into their formulation
• The use of traditional technologies of sourdough and, seed sprouting and roasting can enhance the organoleptic characteristics and extend the shelf life of gluten free bakery products, and thereby improve consumer acceptability for the products.
• The proposed formulations and production technologies of gluten free bakery products, using optimized protocols, will significantly contribute to overcome the technological and nutritional challenges of these food products.

Stage of Development

The formulation of gluten free bakery products based on their enrichment with alternative grains, seeds and nuts and the use of traditional technologies commonly employed for cereal and nut-based products is an innovative holistic approach undertaken for the production of this category of baked goods. Gluten free bakery products (breads, muffins) with various grains, seeds and nuts by using sourdough, and sprouted and roasted seeds have been produced, utilizing an array of different formulations and processing of raw materials. Additionally, the resultant final products have been evaluated for their quality attributes and shelf life using both instrumental analytical methods and sensory analysis as well as for their glycemic response by employing in vivo methods (glycemic index estimation) and in vitro protocols simulating the human digestion process.
The next step requires an industrial large-scale validation and production of some of these products in order to ensure the effectiveness of the process at a large scale and actual manufacturing conditions.

Partner Search

FOOD INNOVATION RI is seeking for Partners with the capacities to develop these products and applied commercially the proposed formulations and technologies. The ideal Partner could be a gluten free bakery product producer with a strong retail network or a plant ingredient (grains, seeds, nuts) producer eager to further develop these technologies in a relevant and operational environment.

Offered by

Department of Food Science and Technology, School of Agriculture, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thermi-Thessaloniki, 57001, Greece

Contact

Prof Costas BILIADERIS
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Food Chemistry – Food Physics