In vitro digestion properties and use of automatic image analysis to assess the quality of wheat bread enriched with whole faba bean (Vicia faba L.) flour and its protein-rich fraction.

The trend of incorporating faba bean (Vicia faba L.) in breadmaking has been increasing, but its application is still facing technological difficulties. The objective of this study was to understand the influence of substituting the wheat flour (WF) with 10, 20, 30 and 40 % mass of whole bean flour (FBF) or 10 and 20 % mass of faba bean protein-rich fraction (FBPI) on the quality (volume, specific volume, density, colour, and texture), nutritional composition (total starch, free glucose, and protein contents), and kinetics of in vitro starch and protein digestibility (IVSD and IVPD, respectively) of the breads. Automated image analysis algorithm was developed to quantitatively estimate the changes in the crumb (i.e., air pockets) and crust (i.e., thickness) due to the use of FBF or FBPI as part of the partial substitution of wheat flour. Higher levels of both FBF and FBPI substitution were associated with breads having significant (p < 0.05) lower (specific) volume (at least 25 % reduction) and higher density (up to 35 %), increased brownness (up to 49 % and 78 % for crust and crumb respectively), and up to 2.3-fold increase in hardness. Result from the image analysis has provided useful insights on how FBF and FBPI affecting bread characteristics during baking such as loss of crumb expansion, decrease in air pocket expansion and increase in crust thickness. Overall, incorporation of FBF or FBPI in wheat bread were favourable in reducing the starch content and improving the protein content and IVPD of wheat bread. Since bread remains as a staple food due to its convenience, versatility and affordability for individuals and families on a budget, wheat bread enriched with faba bean could be a perfect food matrix to increase daily protein intake.

Red cherries (Prunus avium var. Stella) processed by pulsed electric field - Physical, chemical and microbiological analyses.

This study examined, for the first time, the effect of mild or moderate intensity pulsed electric field (PEF) processing on cherries, in particular changes in physicochemical properties, release of anthocyanins and polyphenols, and the potential growth of lactic acid bacteria. Cherry samples were treated at a constant pulse frequency of 100Hz and a constant pulse width of 20µs with different electric field strengths between 0.3 and 2.5kV/cm. Titratable acidity and total soluble solids values of most PEF samples stored for 24h significantly decreased compared to other samples. Stored samples also had increased cyanidin glucoside content. However, concentration of rutin, 4-hydroxybenzoic acid and isorhamnetin rutinoside significantly decreased in samples stored for 24h. In conclusion, sweet cherries were only influenced by storage after PEF processing. PEF processing did not affect the growth of probiotic bacteria.