Effect of quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa Willd.) flour inclusion on the physicochemical and sensory characteristics of pizza dough

Abstract

Pizza dough presents less research concerning other bakery products, where wheat flour has been replaced by another farinaceous to improve its nutritional value. This research aimed to study the effect of quinoa flour inclusion on the physicochemical and sensory characteristics of pizza dough. Three levels of quinoa flour 13, 27 and 40% were included, and two gums (guar and xanthan) and one enzyme (transglutaminase) were used. The study was divided into two stages: in the first stage, the best formulations were determined based on sensory characteristics through a descriptive test (flash profile) and an affective test (acceptability with hedonic scale). In the next stage, the two best treatments were subjected to physical (thickness and color) and chemical (moisture, protein, fat, fiber, ELN and ash) analyses. The data obtained were analyzed using one-way ANOVA, and Duncan (sensory data) and Tukey (physical-chemical data) were used for mean differences. The results show that treatments T1 and T2, containing 13.3% quinoa flour (20% in a baking formula) and Tga enzyme and xanthan gum, respectively, presented the best sensory characteristics in terms of crunchiness, sponginess and softness. In addition, these treatments presented parameters of thickness and color close to the control formulation T0 (without the inclusion of quinoa flour), while the values of protein, fat, fiber, ash and ELN are statistically higher than the T0 treatment. In conclusion, using xanthan gum and transglutaminase enzyme allowed obtaining a pizza dough with acceptable sensory characteristics and higher nutritional value.