Addition of dietary fiber for enriched nutrition of gluten-free Macaroni

Pasta is one of the stable food in Western countries. It is growing in popularity worldwide. Pasta consumption provides daily energy due to the presence of carbohydrate, protein and fat, while lacking an important nutrient like dietary fiber. Therefore, the objective of this study was to investigate the effect of dietary fiber addition to the gluten-free pasta. Cooking quality, textural properties, proximate analyses and sensory evaluation were determined. Rice-flour based macaroni mixed with tapioca starch was enriched with different sources of dietary fiber (10% and 20% wheat fiber, 10% and 20% corn meal and 1% and 1.5% cellulose fiber). Results showed that the incorporation of cellulose fiber provided the highest cooking time (9.00±0.87 min), the highest water absorption (119.03±5.18%), the highest firmness (4.23±0.38 N) and the acceptable cooking loss (4.26±0.15%) among the other formulations. Cooking loss increased when higher amount of the fiber sources was added. All gluten-free macaroni had cooking loss (2.73±0.31 to 4.89±0.29%) and water absorption (94.99±1.13 to 119.03±5.18%). Corn meal addition appeared to provide desirable color with high value on yellowness (b*) of 20.35±0.10. Increasing work of shearing was observed with the higher fiber content being added. The highest work of shearing was from 1.5% cellulose fiber macaroni (95.2±8.29 g.cm), whereas the lowest was from 10% wheat fiber (55.01±4.23 g.cm). Liking scores from sensory evaluation of gluten-free macaroni showed that significant differences were observed from all formulations on appearances, color, aroma of rice and overall liking (p≤0.05). Once served with pasta sauce, liking scores on flavor of rice, overall taste and overall liking did not have significant differences among formulations (p>0.05). Addition of wheat fiber, corn meal or cellulose fiber resulted in an increase of crude fiber content (up to 6.99±0.19%) in gluten-free macaroni, compared to a control. Enriched nutrition by fiber addition significantly changed physical, chemical and cooking properties of rice-based gluten-free macaroni without diminishing sensory liking scores. Using rice flour as a major ingredient to develop high-value added gluten-free pasta products could potentially increase the economics of Thailand’s rice industry.