Quality characteristics of cereal based foods enriched with quinoa and inulin

Chenopodium quinoa Willd or 'quinoa' is a pseudocereal from South America that is becoming more and more interesting in Europe, Asia and the United States because it is a good source of different nutrients, it is rich in antioxidants compounds and it offers an alternative to normal cereals in coeliac diet because its seeds are gluten-free. Although a lot of studies focus on the advantage of consuming alternative products rich in fiber, a few studies document the changes that affected food products due to the inclusion of fiber alternatives, such as inulin, a linear fructose polysaccharide with variable degree of polymerization (DP), that also has beneficial effects on human health. Currently, the inulin used is extracted exclusively from chicory roots and is characterized by a DP of about 20 units of fructose. Considerable quantities of inulin are extractable from the roots of Cynara cardunculus L., characterized by a high DP up to 100 units of fructose. We have focused on determining the quality characteristics of cereal-based foods enriched with quinoa flour and inulin with different degree of polymerization in order to obtain new fortified breads and pasta with lowering glicemic index effect.