Techno-functional properties of new Andean ingredients: maca (Lepidium meyenii) and amaranth (Amaranthus caudatus)

One of the great challenges for the food industry is to obtain healthier processed foods. This is very important for the meat industry, where there is an urgent need to give healthier meat products (“valued-added meat products”).

From this point of view, the use of flours derived from Andean products could be an alternative. Molecules with a potential beneficial effect on human health have been reported in maca (Lepidium meyenii) (dietary fibre, Mg, Ca, K, functional polysaccharides, etc.) and amaranth (Amaranthus caudatus) (squalene, linoleic acid, P, Ca, K, Mg, dietary fibre, etc.). However, from an industrial point of view, these new ingredients must be characterized in their techno-functional properties. The objective of this work was to analyze the techno-functional parameters of the amaranth and maca flours (NI) whole (I) flours, in terms of water holding capacity (WHC, g / g), oil holding capacity (OHC, g / g), foaming capacity (FC,%) and emulsifying capacity (EC, mL). The results indicated that the highest values ​​for WHC and OHC were obtained in maca flour (NI) with 2.45 g of retained water / g of sample and 1.02 g of absorbed oil / g of sample, respectively. Meanwhile, for the variables FC and EC, the highest values ​​were obtained for amaranth (NI) with 16.67% and amaranth (I) with 139.44 mL, respectively. Therefore, the results obtained allow us to consider the incorporation of these types of flours to different food products, knowing their effect on WHC, OHC, EC and pH and therefore being able to modify the processes concerning the traditional ones. This is especially interesting in the case of the meat products elaboration process in which, these parameters could be critical, with the addition of these type of flours.