Global Journal of Science Frontier Research, D: Agriculture and Veterinary, Volume 21 Issue 7

Combined Effect of Quinoa and Germinated Wheat Flour on Physicochemical, Sensory and Microbiological Stability of Cupcakes Abstract- The objective of this study was to evaluate the physicochemical, sensory and microbiological stability of cupcakes during storage after the addition of different proportions of quinoa flour along with germinated wheat flour (GWF). The different levels of quinoa flour (0-15%) and germinated wheat flour (0-15%) were utilized in the cupcakes formulation. The cupcakes containing quinoa flour exhibited greater firmness and water activity than the control cupcake. Hardness and elasticity results revealed that the cupcakes with quinoa flour and GWF were statistically different from those with only quinoa flour and GWF as well as the control cupcake. Moreover, cupcakes with quinoa flour had greater acceptance and preference on the part of consumers. In addition, these cupcakes showed lesser growth of molds after 15 days of storage; this indicated that the aforementioned additive could extend the shelf life of cupcakes. These results showed that the addition of quinoa flour led to cupcakes with better sensory and textural properties and greater stability during storage. Keywords: pseudo-cereals; texture; gluten-free; microbiological stability. I. I ntroduction seudocerealsdo not belong to the Gramineae family and produce seeds which can be milled into flour and applied like as cereal crops. They are known to be gluten-free and suitable for Celiac disorders which these fiber-rich grains with high diversification of gluten-free items are available on the market(Alvarez-Jubete et al., 2010). Quinoa ( Chenopodium Quinoa ) seeds are known as pseudocereal, and due to their high fiber (~15%) and protein (~13%)containing essential amino acids such as lysine, threonine and methionine which are insufficient is some cereals; have found great attention in the world (López-Alarcón et al., 2019; Wu et al., 2017). Quinoa can be incorporated into various products such as bread, cookies, pasta, cakes and chocolates (Acosta- Dominguez et al., 2016; Casas Moreno et al., 2015; Pop et al., 2014; Wang et al., 2015). Due to the high quality of quinoa protein, it can be applied to improve protein from different sources and utilized for Celiac diseases treatment (Abugoch et al., 2008; Alencar et al., 2015). Therefore, FAO has selected it as one of the destination crops to offer food security in the 21 st century (Jacobsen, 2003). The convenient processing and accessibilities of cupcakes in the parties, makes it a suitable choice which can be designated by quinoa flour as a panelist product for celiac disorders (Abdel-Moemin, 2016). However, the quinoa flour products are often poor quality due to quality degradation by shelf life, have lower loaf volume, poor texture and mouth feel due to the lack of gluten elasticity and low nutritional value (Turkut et al., 2016). So, it is required to improve the structural and textural properties of the products from quinoa flour through some physical, chemical and enzymatic modification. Although, some thermal processing have been used to change its physicochemical properties of protein and starches(Acosta-Dominguez et al., 2016; Mirmoghtadaie et al., 2016) . It has also been reported that thermal processing make different effects on the protein functionalities and induce gelation of quinoa protein, which has been attributed to the protein characteristics such as molecular attractions, which lead to the irreversible bond formation between aggregates of globular proteins (Ako et al., 2010; Kaspchak et al., 2017). Indeed, baking industries are so interested in comprising new additives to extend shelf life of the products due to its deterioration by presence of molds which has a severe economic loss in the products (Samapundo et al., 2017). Wheat germination improves the bioavailability of nutrients and offers many health benefits. For instance, folic acid is increased 3 to 4-fold in germinated wheat flour (GWF) depending on the temperature processing of wheat germination (Hefni & Witthöft, 2011). Since the protein content of GWF (about 9%) is more than whole wheat flour, it can be developed in the baking process. Furthermore, GWF has higher oil absorption capacity and water solubility index which can be useful in different baking products such as cupcake(Dhillon et al., 2020). GWF was also evaluated for using in bread making and interesting results were achieved (Park & Morita, 2005). Due to the high nutritional and functional properties of GWF, it is P 1 Global Journal of Science Frontier Research Volume XXI Issue VII Year 2021 3 ( D ) © 2021 Global Journals Version I Author α σ ρ : Department of Food Science and Technology, Shahr-e- Qods Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran. Author Ѡ : Department of Food Science and Technology, Faculty of Food Industry, Karaj University of Applied Science, Karaj, Iran. Author ¥ : Department of Food Processing, Research Institute of Food Science and Technology, Mashhad, Iran. e-mail: a.rafe@rifst.ac.ir Negin Javaheripour α , Lida Shahsavani Mojarrad σ , Shadi Mehdikhani ρ , Yaser Inanloo Ѡ & Ali Rafe ¥