The effects of pre-gelatinization, mild and severe parboiling processes on paddy rice and the utilization of the corresponding flours (PGF, MPF, and SPF) for gluten-free (GF) pasta-making were investigated. Flour from native rice (NF) was considered as a control. Two pasta-making processes (extrusion-cooking and conventional extrusion) were carried out and seven GF pasta samples, with different thermal treatments but without the addition of additives, were obtained. The thermal treatments affected the physical properties and the susceptibility to -amylase hydrolysis of rice flours to different extents. The loss of starch granule integrity during the pre-gelatinization process promoted high viscosity at 30°C and dramatically increased the mass of absorbed water, the amount of soluble components leached out from the granules and the fraction of starch quickly hydrolyzed by -amylase. Compared to pre-gelatinization, both parboiling processes induced lower pasting viscosity at any temperature, enzymatic susceptibility, and hydration. The magnitude of these changes significantly increased with the severity of the parboiling treatment. The lowest value for cooking loss was detected for samples prepared by 100% SPF (extrusion-cooking) or by mixture of SPF and PGF (50:50) (conventional extrusion). Nevertheless, the extrusion-cooking process promoted a firm texture when applied to parboiled flours.

The effects of chemical (acid-heating treatment) and enzymatic (microbial transglutaminase, TGase) modification (deamidation) of gluten proteins on their physicochemical and celiac disease-related properties were studied. Ammonia release, sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, and sample solubility analyses were employed to check the extent of gluten modification. Among different treatments achieved, the acid-heating treatment performed at 90 degrees C for 3 h induced gluten deamidation, paralleling an increase of gluten solubility without relevant proteolysis. Changes in the immunoreactivity of celiac IgA anti-gliadin antibodies (AGAs) to modified gluten proteins were detected by using a competitive indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay method. Chemical deamidation by acid-heating treatment of gluten lowered IgA-AGA immunoreactivity. IgA-AGA immunoreactivity to gliadins was increased when they were submitted to TGase-catalyzed deamidation. The acid-heating treatment of gluten reduced its cytotoxic activity on human colon adenocarcinoma LoVo cell line. These results showed that chemical deamidation of gluten may be envisaged as a way to lower the potential risk for celiac people due to widespread use of gluten as a food additive.

BACKGROUND The consumers' perception of the importance of healthy food has promoted the interest towards fruit, vegetables and spices rich in antioxidants. Moreover, changing in eating habits has encouraged the diffusion of ready‐to‐eat commodities with specific merceological standards. In the present study, 12 hot pepper varieties devoted to powder production, canned processing, blister packaging have been evaluated for morpho‐agronomic traits and bioactive compounds in replicated trials in three locations and two growing seasons. RESULTS For all traits, the genotypic component (G) and the genotype × location interaction (G×L) were significant (P < 0.05). Morphological fruit traits evidenced a strong effect of the genotype (> 95%) while yield and biochemical traits showed a variable response to environmental effects. Capsaicin and the yellow fraction of carotenoids were the only nutraceutical compounds showing a relatively high G effect, contrariwise, ascorbic acid, carotenoids and tocopherols were more influenced by location (L) and year of cultivation (Y). Results showed how breeding for quality traits in chilli is still challenging. Multivariate analysis allowed to identify pairs of traits distinguishing the different market typologies: powder types exhibited a lower productivity and higher pungency while those for blister packaging had a remarkable antioxidant capacity. CONCLUSIONS A comprehensive approach was used to study the plasticity of agronomic and nutritional traits in chilli pepper. The set of cultivars analysed produced fruits with considerable levels of several health‐related metabolites, including capsaicin, carotenoids and antioxidant phytochemicals. This information is useful for precision breeding of novel varieties. © 2019 Society of Chemical Industry

The aim of this research was to evaluate β-glucan-enriched flours, obtained from barleys with either normal or waxy starch, for their effects on the glycaemic index (GI) and the quality of bread. Rheological results confirmed that when barley flour was included in the dough the overall quality of bread slightly worsened. However, positive consequences on glycaemia were obtained with the normal starch barley: the GI of all-wheat bread (82.8 ± 7.2) was significantly reduced (57.2 ± 7.9) when 40% of wheat flour was substituted with β-glucan-enriched barley flour (6.0% ± 0.1 β-glucan in the final flour blend). In contrast, this positive effect was significantly reduced (GI: 70.1 ± 9.1) when 40% of wheat flour was substituted with the β-glucan-enriched flour of a waxy barley (CDC Alamo; 6.6 ± 0.2 β-glucan in the final flour blend), suggesting that the ability of β-glucans to lower the GI was affected by the barley starch-type.