Effect of tiger nut-derived products in gluten-free batter and bread

Abstract

Tiger nut is a tuber used to produce tiger nut milk that yields a high quantity of solid waste, which can be dried and used as fiber source. The objective of this paper was to evaluate the quality of gluten-free bread formulated with different tiger nut-derived products in order to substitute soya flour (which is an allergen ingredient) and, at the same time, increase the use of tiger nut-derived products. Four gluten-free formulations based on corn starch and containing tiger nut milk, tiger nut milk by-product, tiger nut flour, or soya flour (as reference formulation) were studied. Tiger nut milk increased G′ of gluten-free batter and rendered breads with the softest crumb (502.46 g ± 102.05), the highest loaf-specific volume (3.35 cm3/g ± 0.25), and it was mostly preferred by consumers (61.02%). Breads elaborated with tiger nut flour had similar characteristics than soya flour breads (except in color and crumb structure). The addition of tiger nut milk by-product resulted in a hard (1047.64 g ± 145.74) and dark ( L* = 70.02 ± 3.38) crumb bread, which was the least preferred by consumers. Results showed that tiger nut is a promising ingredient to formulate gluten-free baked products.