COOKING PROPERTIES AND SENSORY QUALITY OF GLUTEN-FREE ADLAI (Coix lacryma &ndash; jobi L.) PASTA

Sheyreen Geyl  G. Aquino,

COOKING PROPERTIES AND SENSORY QUALITY OF GLUTEN-FREE ADLAI (Coix lacryma – jobi L.) PASTA

Abstract:

Adlai is an underutilized cereal for human food production despite its flour being a potential gluten-free (GF) source in the development of several foods. Thus, the aim of this research was to develop a good quality GF pasta from Adlai flour and to evaluate the cooking properties, sensory attributes, and proximate composition of the different gluten-free Adlai pasta formulations in comparison to the commercial ones. Adlai flour (AF) was mixed with pre-gelatinize cassava starch (PGCS) [AF: PGCS] to produce three (3) treatments, namely: Treatment 1 (100: 0); Treatment 2 (95:5) and Treatment 3 (90:10)]. Xanthan gum (XG: 5 % w/w) and egg white powder (EWP: 10% w/w) were added using full factorial complete randomized design to produce GF pasta. The developed pasta and the control treatment (Treatment 4) were subjected to cooking properties such as cooking time, cooking loss, and water absorption. Sensory analysis was done using 9-point hedonic scale (n=50) for the three (3) GF pasta formulation including the control (commercially available GF pasta). The results showed that the use of Adlai flour with PGCS, EWP, and XG to produce a gluten-free pasta significantly affected its cooking properties, sensory attributes, and proximate composition. Sensory evaluation indicated that Treatment 4 (brown rice pasta; control) gained the highest acceptability for all sensory attributes (like moderately) and is comparable to Treatment 3 (90:10) in terms of texture. However, scores regarding aroma have no significant difference among the different samples. In terms of the cooking properties, results showed that as the level of PGCS increased, water absorption tends to increase, whereas, cooking time and cooking loss were likely decreased. The developed GF Adlai pasta showed a great number of total energy (kcal), protein, and dietary fiber which are higher than both the commercial (non-gluten-free) pasta product and GF pasta. Moreover, compared to the commercially available GF pasta, the Adlai pasta is cost-efficient.