FORTIFICATION NUTRITIONAL VALUE OF SNACKS PRODUCED FOR CELIAC DISEASE

Celiac disease imposes the need to develop gluten-free products. Therefore, the possibility of producing functional yellow corn flour (YCF) snacks fortified with quinoa flour (QF) and Spirulina powder (SP) was studied to evaluate the effect of fortification on its nutritional, chemical and sensory properties. The effect of using SP (2.5, 5, and 7.5%) in fortifying functional snacks produced from the most acceptable mixture of QF and YCF (20% QF to 80% YCF) on the chemical composition of snacks was studied. The results showed that, there were an increase in protein, fat, ash and total phenolic contents and a decrease in carbohydrates content by increasing Spirulina addition ratios compared to the control sample. For example, protein content increased from 6.56 to 8.53% and total phenolic content increased from 0.58 to 1.53% in the control sample, compared the sample fortified with 7.5% SP. In the same direction, the amount of minerals in samples fortified with 2.5, 5, and 7.5% SP was higher than that of control sample with significant differences (P ≤ 0.05), this was due to the addition of mineral-rich SP. In addition, sensory evaluation of snack samples exposed that all samples have no significant differences in odour, taste and texture compared with the control sample. The obtained results indicated that, using a mixture of QF and YCF plus SP to formulate novel functional snacks with nutritional value is applicable and show a new aspect of health benefits, especially for celiac disease.