Influence of the addition of Amaranthus mantegazzianus flour on the nutritional and health properties of pasta

To improve the nutritional and functional properties of pasta, bread wheat flour was substituted with wholemeal flour from Amaranthus mantegazzianus (WMAF) at 15, 30, 40 and 50% w/w. Proteins, dietary fibre, glycemic index (GI) and carbohydrate and protein digestibility were determined in the resulting pasta. Squalene content was also measured, in view of the beneficial health properties of this compound. With the addition of 30% of WMAF, where the technological quality of pasta remained acceptable, protein and fibre contents resulted in 23 and 50% higher than control pasta. Pasta presented a significant enrichment of squalene content at all levels of substitution with WMAF. In addition, all samples remained in the range of low GI foods, and protein digestibility values were even higher than control pasta.