Techno-functional properties of corn flour with cowpea (vigna unguilata) powders obtained by extrusion

Abstract

first_pagesettingsOrder Article Reprints Open AccessArticle Techno-Functional Properties of Corn Flour with Cowpea (Vigna unguilata) Powders Obtained by Extrusion by Luz Indira Sotelo-Díaz 1,Marta Igual 2ORCID,Javier Martínez-Monzó 2,*ORCID andPurificación García-Segovia 2ORCID 1 Food Investigation, Process Management and Service Group, Food Science and Culture Department, Universidad de La Sabana, Campus del Puente del Común Km. 7, Autopista Norte de Bogotá, Chía 250001, Colombia 2 Food Investigation and Innovation Group, Food Technology Department, Universitat Politècnica de València, Camino de Vera s/n, 46022 Valencia, Spain * Author to whom correspondence should be addressed. Foods 2023, 12(2), 298; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods12020298 Received: 28 November 2022 / Revised: 5 January 2023 / Accepted: 6 January 2023 / Published: 8 January 2023 (This article belongs to the Special Issue Food Powders: Applications and Reconstitution-Properties) Download Browse Figures Review Reports Versions Notes Abstract Legumes are a good source of vegetal protein that improves diets worldwide. Cowpea has been used as fortification agents in some traditional corn foods in developing countries such as Colombia. The work aimed to evaluate the physicochemical properties of extruded mixtures of corn and cowpea flours to assess the use of these mixes as vegetable protein ingredients. Corn flour was mixed with 15, 30, and 50% of cowpea flour and extruded for this proposal. After extrusion, mixtures were ground to produce a powder. Techno-functional properties of powders as water content, hygroscopicity, water absorption, fat absorption, water solubility index, swelling index, bulk density, Hausner ratio, Carr index, and porosity were evaluated in the mixtures, extrudates, and obtained powders to assess the effect of the addition of cowpea on these properties. Results showed that processing powder obtained by extrusion and drying could be used as a powder to regenerate with water as a source of protein. Moreover, storing processing samples in sections (pellet format) is convenient to avoid wetting since this format is less hygroscopic and the same mass occupies less storage volume than powders.