Comparison of the Chemical and Technological Characteristics of Wholemeal Flours Obtained from Amaranth (<i>Amaranthus</i> sp.), Quinoa (<i>Chenopodium quinoa</i>) and Buckwheat (<i>Fagopyrum</i> sp.) Seeds
Phara De Bock,
Lori Daelemans,
Lotte Selis,
Katleen Raes,
Pieter Vermeir,
Mia Eeckhout,
Filip Van Bockstaele
Affiliations
Phara De Bock
Research Unit of Cereal and Feed Technology, Department of Food Technology, Safety and Health, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University, Valentin Vaerwyckweg 1, 9000 Ghent, Belgium
Lori Daelemans
Research Unit of Cereal and Feed Technology, Department of Food Technology, Safety and Health, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University, Valentin Vaerwyckweg 1, 9000 Ghent, Belgium
Lotte Selis
Research Unit of Cereal and Feed Technology, Department of Food Technology, Safety and Health, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University, Valentin Vaerwyckweg 1, 9000 Ghent, Belgium
Katleen Raes
Research Group VEG-i-TEC, Department of Food Technology, Safety and Health, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University, Gr. Karel de Goedelaan 5, 8500 Kortrijk, Belgium
Pieter Vermeir
Laboratory for Chemical Analysis (LCA), Department of Green Chemistry and Technology, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University, Valentin Vaerwyckweg 1, 9000 Ghent, Belgium
Mia Eeckhout
Research Unit of Cereal and Feed Technology, Department of Food Technology, Safety and Health, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University, Valentin Vaerwyckweg 1, 9000 Ghent, Belgium
Filip Van Bockstaele
Food Structure and Function Research Group (FSF), Department of Food Technology, Safety and Health, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University, Coupure Links 653, 9000 Ghent, Belgium
A sound fundamental knowledge of the seed and flour characteristics of pseudocereals is crucial to be able to promote their industrial use. As a first step towards a more efficient and successful application, this study focuses on the seed characteristics, chemical composition and technological properties of commercially available pseudocereals (amaranth, quinoa, buckwheat). The levels of starch, fat, dietary fiber and minerals were comparable for amaranth and quinoa seeds but the protein content is higher in amaranth. Due to the high amount of starch, buckwheat seeds are characterised by the lowest amounts of fat, dietary fibre and minerals. Its protein content ranged between that of amaranth and quinoa. Buckwheat seeds were larger but easily reduced in size. The lipid fraction of the pseudocereals mostly contained unsaturated fatty acids, with the highest prevalence of linoleic and oleic acid. Palmitic acid is the most abundant unsaturated fatty acid. Moreover, high levels of P, K and Mg were found in these pseudocereals. The highest phenolic content was found in buckwheat. Amaranth WMF (wholemeal flour) had a high swelling power but low shear stability. The pasting profile strongly varied among the different quinoa WMFs. Buckwheat WMFs showed high shear stability and rate of retrogradation.
