Development of functional couscous enriched in barley β-glucans

Technological Feasibility of Couscous-Algae-Supplemented Formulae: Process Description, Nutritional Properties and In Vitro Digestibility

“…For WAI, 2.5 g of couscous was mixed with 30 mL of water, shaken for 30 min and then centrifuged at 2200 g for 10 min. The pellets were weighed and the WAI was calculated [ 17 ]. The obtained supernatant was drained carefully into a pre-weighed container, placed at 105 °C and then weighed on an analytical balance.…”

“…The obtained supernatant was drained carefully into a pre-weighed container, placed at 105 °C and then weighed on an analytical balance. The WSI was calculated as the ratio between the weight of the dried supernatant and the dry weight of the sample [ 17 ]. Cooking quality determinations were repeated at least in triplicate.…”

“…The food matrix in which the algae biomass was incorporated was couscous, an ethnic staple food product of some of the Maghreb countries or the Berber world (Northern Africa). This cereal product is known for its simplicity in terms of the raw materials used and the cooking process, in addition to its nutritional characteristics such as its low fat content and the presence of some vitamins and minerals [ 17 ]. A few scientific publications are available concerning the original food product [ 18 , 19 ]; some have evaluated the differences between its industrial and typical versions [ 20 ].…”

“…It is worth noting that the traditional steps followed are quite complex, which makes the ethnic products less consumed in favor of the industrial ones. This may be justified by globalization in addition to economic concerns [ 17 ].…”

Implicaciones en la salud de los B-glucanos de cebada

“…En 2019, Messia y colaboradores analizaron harinas de cebada con un alto contenido de βglucanos empleadas para la producción de cuscús funcional, que también es conocido como pasta marroquí. El cuscús funcional presentó atributos saludables a causa de la presencia de β-glucanos y fibra 33 . Lo que también coincide con el estudio realizado por Lotfi y colaboradores (2019) en bocadillos con harina de cebada y 10% de orujo de zanahoria mediante cocción por extrusión (cocción a niveles bajos de humedad, comparado con el horneado convencional o la cocción de masas y pastas), a una temperatura de troquel de 142.7°C y 14.02% de contenido de humedad, se pudo notar que la FD soluble aumentó sin modificar el contenido total de FD, por lo que se concluyó que los bocadillos extruidos tenían un alto valor nutricional 34 .…”