Assessment of nutritional and technological features of a cereal-based traditional product: The case of Apulian Taralli

The aim of this research was to assess nutritional and technological features of a traditional cereal-based baked product: Apulian Taralli . Three different formulations were studied for this product, evaluating the protein composition and the rate of protein aggregates formation, through electrophoretic and chromatographic approaches. Additionally, two different production technologies were compared, highlighting that technological process affects the protein extractability. Based on our knowledge, no other researches were focused on the analysis of this typical product from this perspective. The overall outcomes of the study provided new information on the protein organization for baked products, assessing the formation of high molecular weight protein aggregates, characterized by a different extractability and suggesting the need of testing different buffers to optimize the extraction conditions to deepen the organization of the protein network in baked products. Finally, the rate of starch digestion and the predicted glycemic index were measured, revealing how the two employed production technologies influenced also the nutritional features, obtaining promising outcomes for the formulation and production of a low-glycemic index cereal-based baked product, since the application of a patent technology allowed to have a final product with a low predicted glycemic index (pIG≅48) for the three tested formulations. • Cereal flours and mixture with maize influenced Taralli technological features. • The application of two technological processes affected protein extractability. • Patent technology affected the rate of starch digestion lowering glycemic index.