CNR ExploRA

Articolo in rivista, 2021, ENG, 10.3390/nu13124517

Sensory Characteristics and Nutritional Quality of Food Products Made with a Biofortified and Lectin Free Common Bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) Flour

Francesca Sparvoli , Silvia Giofré, Eleonora Cominelli, Elena Avite, Gianluca Giuberti, Diomira Luongo , Edoardo Gatti , Marta Cianciabella , Giulia Maria Daniele , Mauro Rossi and Stefano Predieri

Institute of Agricultural Biology and Biotechnology, National Research Council, Via Bassini 15, 20133 Milano, Italy; Dipartimento di Scienze Agrarie, Alimentari e Ambientali, Università Politecnica delle Marche, 60131 Ancona, Italy Blumen Group SPA, Corso Savona 168, 14100 Asti, Italy; Department for Sustainable Food Process, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Via Emilia Parmense 84, 29122 Piacenza, Italy; Institute of Food Science, National Research Council, Via Roma 64, 83100 Avellino, Italy; Institute for BioEconomy, National Research Council, Via Piero Gobetti 101, 40129 Bologna, Italy;

Common beans (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) are an important source of nutrients with beneficial effects on human health. However, they contain lectins, that limit the direct use of flour in food preparations without thermal treatment, and phytic acid, that reduces mineral cation bioavailability. The objectives of this research were: to obtain biofortified snacks and a cream using an untreated common bean flour devoid of active lectins (lec-) and with reduced content of phytic acid (lpa) and to evaluate the sensorial appreciation for these products. The main results of the present work were: the products with the lpa lec- flour did not retain residual hemagglutinating activity due to lectins; they showed higher residual ?-amylase inhibitor activity (from 2.2 to 135 times), reduced in vitro predicted glycemic index (about 5 units reduction) and increased iron bioavailability compared to the products with wild type flour; products with common bean flour were less appreciated than the reference ones without this flour, but the presence of an intense umami taste can be a positive attribute. Results confirmed that the use of the lpa lec- flour has important advantages in the preparation of safe and nutritionally improved products, and provide useful information to identify target consumers, such as children and elderly people.

Nutrients 13