Paliurus spina-christi Mill.: A New Alternative Flour on Gluten-Free Bread

Gluten is an essential protein in bakery products made from wheat flour. Gluten fraction forms skeletal structures in bakery products, especially bread. However, some people can cause problems called gluten intolerance or celiac disease. For this reason, research on products that are alternatives to gluten-free foods continues daily. In this study, fruits of Paliurus spina-christi Mill. species were used. This plant has been studied as an alternative to gluten-free bread (less than 5 ppm gluten). The bread was produced from the flour obtained by grinding the ripe fruits of the P. spina-christi. Quality parameters and heavy metal contents of these flour and bread samples were investigated. Comparisons were made with commercially available gluten-free breads. Energy, protein, moisture, ash, dietary fiber, carbohydrate, gluten, fat, heavy metal contents in bread of P. spina-christi were investigated. The results showed that the ash, protein, and dietary fiber content of the bread obtained from P. spina-christi were higher than the other gluten-free breads. It has been shown that the amounts of heavy metals are lower than the amounts tolerated by humans. The study revealed that bread made from flour obtained from P. spina-christi could be an alternative to gluten-free products. In this study, a method of flour and bread production and quality parameters of P. spina-christi was tried for the first time. In addition, it will likely be an alternative to the studies on gluten-free bakery products.