Review
Nutritive value of pseudocereals and their increasing use as functional gluten-free ingredients

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tifs.2009.10.014Get rights and content

Results from a number of recent studies have highlighted the need for an improvement in the nutritional quality of cereal-based gluten-free products. Several gluten-free grains exist, such as the pseudocereals amaranth, quinoa and buckwheat; these are characterized by an excellent nutrient profile. Thus, an increasing trend in research is focusing on their use in the formulation of high quality, healthy gluten-free products such as bread and pasta. However, commercialization of these products is still quite limited. The availability of palatable pseudocereal-containing gluten-free products would represent a significant advance towards ensuring an adequate intake of nutrients in subjects with celiac disease.

Section snippets

Celiac disease, the gluten-free diet and the importance of healthy gluten-free products

Celiac disease (CD) is an autoimmune enteropathy triggered by the ingestion of gluten-containing grains (wheat, barley, rye and possibly oats) in genetically susceptible individuals (Catassi & Fasano, 2008). The consumption of gluten in CD causes self-perpetuating damage to the intestinal mucosal and its functionality becomes severely impaired (Fasano & Catassi, 2001). Contrarily to what was previously believed, celiac disease can present at any age and with a variety of clinical presentations

Amaranth, quinoa and buckwheat: characteristics of the grains

In botanical terms, amaranth, quinoa and buckwheat are not true cereals, they are dicotyledonous plants as opposed to most cereals (e.g. wheat, rice, barley) which are monocotyledonous. They are referred to as pseudocereals, as their seeds resemble in function and composition those of the true cereals. Amaranth seeds are small (1–1.5 mm diameter), they are lenticular in shape and weigh per seed is 0.6–1.3 mg (Bressani, 2003). Quinoa seeds are generally larger than amaranth, with a diameter of

Nutrient composition of amaranth, quinoa and buckwheat

The nutrient composition of amaranth, quinoa and buckwheat as previously published by Alvarez-Jubete, Arendt, and Gallagher (2009) is presented in Table 1.

Application of pseudocereals in gluten-free cereal-based foods

A growing number of studies have investigated the application of pseudocereals in the production of nutrient-rich gluten-free products such as bread, pasta and confectionary products.

Gambus, Gambus, and Sabat (2002) studied the feasibility of amaranth as an alternative gluten-free ingredient to improve the nutritional quality of gluten-free breads. Acceptable breads were produced which were also characterized by having significantly higher levels of protein, fiber and minerals. In a more recent

Conclusion

A variety of gluten-free whole grains such as the pseudocereals amaranth, quinoa and buckwheat have been increasingly researched as nutritious ingredients in gluten-free formulations. Some of the most attractive features of these seeds as gluten-free ingredients include their high quality protein and the presence of abundant quantities of fiber and minerals such as calcium and iron. Moreover, they are also a source of many bioactive compounds with health-promoting effects such as phytosterols,

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