Effect of pre-treatment and oil popping conditions on quinoa popping quality

Abstract

Quinoa is a pseudocereal having outstanding nutritional profile and health-promoting biofunctional compounds. It is able to pop into an affordable, crispy, and flavourful ready-to-eat snack by conventional oil-popping method. Oil-popping is the process of frying grains in hot oil for a short time to induce vapour-driven expansion of grains. The effects of process variables on oil-popping quality of quinoa were evaluated. The conditions of processing were optimised using Response Surface Methodology. The grains (10 g) were hydrated by adding 0.1–0.3 mL of water containing a varying salt concentration of 0–1%, w/w and popped in coconut oil maintained at a popping temperature of 200–240 °C for a popping time of 10–30 s. The developed popped quinoa was analysed for popping quality indices. It was found that the increase in popping temperature, popping time, and salt concentration, and decrease in moisture level significantly decreased bulk density but increased popping yield (% popped grains), expansion ratio (degree of volume expansion), and flake size (average kernel size) of popped quinoa. Overall acceptability of popped quinoa in terms of sensory attributes was positively correlated with popping temperature and popping time. The optimised variables generated a popping yield of 75.56%, expansion ratio of 3.07, flake size of 11.58 mm3, bulk density of 0.29 g mL−1, and overall acceptability score of 8.40. A threefold expansion and a fair popping yield obtained from oil-popped quinoa offer a significant potential to generate profit for manufacturers.