The main route for acrylamide formation is the reaction between reducing sugars and asparagine. As foods pH modulates acrylamide formation, cooking under the lowest pH is a possible mitigation strategy, as long as it does not compromise the expected foods sensorial characteristics. Polymeric acid compounds, such as pectin or pectate, which are acidic polysaccharides, can provide acidity without significant interference in taste or colour. To prove this hypothesis, biscuits were prepared with tartaric acid (control to acidic effect), and galacturonic acid in monomeric (GalA), oligomeric, and polymeric forms (pectin or pectate). While 1% GalA leads to 95% increase in acrylamide, biscuits prepared with 5% pectin had a 67% decrease. Replacing sucrose with fructose increased the acrylamide levels in control biscuits above the benchmark level of 150 mg/kg recommended by EFSA for children. However, addition of pectin/pectate had an effective acrylamide mitigation by lowering its content below these indicative values. (C) 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Ammonia caramels are the most common antioxidant colour agent used in bakery formulations, although their high sugars content. An alternative could be coffee melanoidins, which are brown coloured compounds with antioxidant properties, readily available from instant coffee. However, high caffeine content is limiting its direct application. To evaluate the possibility of obtaining coloured melanoidin-rich, sugars- and caffeine-poor fractions from instant coffee, in this work, simple procedures based on their ethanol insolubility (fraction EtPp) or retention by ultrafiltration (fraction HWSn) were exploited. Melanoidins incorporation into biscuits formulation (amounts of 1, 5 and 10% w/w related to flour content) resulted in acceptable coloured products with higher antioxidant activity. The biscuits supplemented with 1% EtPp or HWSn had a low caffeine content. The caffeine of one espresso coffee was equivalent to 130 biscuits containing EtPp and 31 biscuits containing HWSn. Besides, both fractions did not promote extra formation of acrylamide or 5-hydroxymethylfurfural during baking.

The aim of the study was to determine the content of macro- and microelements in innovative gluten-free muffins. Four types of innovative muffins were obtained from unfermented or fermented, by Lactobacillus plantarum, common buckwheat flour suspension mixed with buckwheat flour or commercial gluten-free maize flour. Buckwheat flour was a better source on macro- and microelements compared to maize gluten-free flour. Only the calcium content in gluten-free maize flour was higher than in buckwheat flour. Innovative muffins obtained from unfermented or fermented, by Lb. plantarum, common buckwheat flour suspension mixed with buckwheat flour showed the highest content of macroelements: potassium and magnesium, and also higher content of microelements: zinc and manganese. The applied fermentation process significantly decreased copper content in the samples containing fermented buckwheat flour compared to other muffin samples.