Utilisation of aquatic fern (Azolla sp.) powder for supplementing semolina pasta: quality characteristics of produced pasta

Abstract

SummaryAquatic fern (Azolla sp.) powder was used as a non‐conventional protein source to supplement semolina pasta. The pre‐blanched and dried powder of Azolla was used to supplement the pasta at 0, 5, 10, 15 and 20 per 100 g−1 level followed by its quality evaluation. Increasing Azolla powder content in pasta, the minimum cooking time increased from 5.15 min to 6.00 min (P < 0.05). Similarly cooking loss increased from 3.69% to 5.34%, while swelling index showed a decreasing trend (P < 0.05). In vitro protein digestibility values of produced pasta ranged between 75.32 ± 0.95 and 82.85% ± 1.42%. Increasing Azolla powder content in pasta significantly increased its firmness from 2843.8 to 4197.5 g. Lightness (L*) as well as overall whiteness values were significantly reduced with increasing levels of Azolla powder in pasta (P < 0.05). Sensory acceptability was reduced with the increasing Azolla powder content, being highest for pasta supplemented with 5% and 10% Azolla powder.

Influence of Different Processing Conditions on Nutritional, Phytochemical, and Physical Properties of Aquatic Fern (Azolla pinnata): A Sustainable Nutrient-Rich Human Food

“…The unprocessed Azolla is a rich source of minerals and its processing by different means significantly ( p < 0.05) influenced the mineral element content (Table ). The results for the various macro and micro mineral elements of the unprocessed Azolla sample observed in the present study were previously studied . All the processing treatments significantly ( p < 0.05) reduced the phosphorus, magnesium, and manganese content, and the highest reduction was found in autoclaved samples followed by blanching, while microwave treatment showed the lowest reduction.…”

“…Aquatic weeds are gaining attention in the form of nonconventional food ingredients due to their high nutritional value and low cost of production. Nutritionally, these weeds contain 20–35% protein, 4–7% fat, and 4–10% starch on a dry weight basis along with an excellent source of essential (39.20%) and nonessential (53.64%) amino acids. , Essential amino acids, such as valine, leucine, and isoleucine, comprised 48.67% of the total essential amino acids. Among total nonessential amino acids, only glutamic acid contributes 25.87%.…”

Enrichment of pasta with Pangasianodon hypophthalmus protein isolate for improved sustainability, nutrition, and quality

“…The colour parameter of pasta plays a significant role in determining the acceptance of customers (Kaur et al, 2023). The control pasta exhibits 78.37 L*, 2.10 a*, and 10.73 b* values (Table 3).…”

Editorial of the special section: Innovations in pasta production to improve sustainability, nutrition and quality

“…Five studies experimented the replacement wheat flour/semolina in pasta formulation with functional ingredients such as barley flour and chickpea flour (Singh et al, 2023), aquatic fern (Azolla sp.) powder (Kaur et al, 2023b), small-sized fish pangas (Saini et al, 2023), asparagus pruning (da Silva et al, 2023) and green leafy vegetable wastes (Fratianni et al, 2023). Pasta, due to its widespread use and popularity, is, in fact, an ideal carrier of these new ingredients and health-promoting substances.…”

“…Azolla sp. powder is a non-conventional and nutritionally valuable ingredient, which significantly influences the nutritional quality, cooking characteristics and sensory properties of semolina pasta (Kaur et al, 2023a(Kaur et al, , 2023b.…”