Issue 15, 2022

Improving the physicochemical properties of a traditional Portuguese cake – “económicos” with chestnut flour

Abstract

“Económicos” are traditional Portuguese pastry products; although their production is low-cost, their nutritional value is equally low. Since it is a widely consumed product in the Trás-os-Montes region, it is important to add value to it without making significant changes to the traditional recipe. Thus, this work has the main objective to increase the nutritional power of “económicos” through the incorporation of chestnut (Castanea sativa) fruit flour. The influence of the incorporation of 9% of chestnut flour as a new ingredient was analysed in terms of physical parameters (texture, colour, pH, water activity and moisture), nutritional content (according to the official AOAC methodology) and chemical parameters (sugars, fatty acids and organic acids) and the ability to control the microbial load over shelf life (32 days). Overall, the addition of the chestnut flour did not drastically change the appearance of the chemical and physical profiles of the cakes, but resulted in a lighter crumb (L*), slight changes in the texture profile, reduction of fat, and most importantly, introduced healthier flour to this inexpensive cake. Moreover, it did not stimulate the growth of microorganisms (total aerobic mesophiles, coliforms, Bacillus cereus, molds, and yeasts) during the 32 days of storage.

Graphical abstract: Improving the physicochemical properties of a traditional Portuguese cake – “económicos” with chestnut flour

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
19 May 2022
Accepted
29 Jun 2022
First published
14 Jul 2022

Food Funct., 2022,13, 8243-8253

Improving the physicochemical properties of a traditional Portuguese cake – “económicos” with chestnut flour

F. A. Fernandes, M. C. Pedrosa, J. M. Ueda, E. Ferreira, P. Rodrigues, S. A. Heleno, M. Carocho, M. A. Prieto, I. C. F. R. Ferreira and L. Barros, Food Funct., 2022, 13, 8243 DOI: 10.1039/D2FO01385A

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements