Abstract:
Research background. Despite the growing trend of the gluten-free market and the
presence of a wide range of gluten-free products, there are still some shortcomings in nutritional
and sensory quality of these products. The commercially available gluten-free
products are characterised as products of inferior nutritional quality, particularly in terms
of protein and dietary fibre content and with high glycaemic index. On the other hand,
from a sensory point of view, gluten-free products usually have inappropriate textural and
mechanical properties, poor mouthfeel and flavour. This is a consequence of the limiting
choice of raw materials that mainly possess large amount of carbohydrate components.
Experimental approach. Chickpea flour and two types of pumpkin seed press cake flour
(virgin and cold pressed), at two substitution mass fractions (20 and 35 %), were blended
to produce gluten-free crackers without the presence of conventional gluten-free starchrich
ingredients. This study aims to investigate the effect of these non-conventional flours
on nutritional and physicochemical properties, sensory acceptability, antioxidant activity
and glycaemic index of crackers.
Results and conclusions. All produced crackers can bear nutritional claims ’high fibre’,
’source of protein’ and ’source of minerals’. Replacing chickpea flour with pumpkin seed
press cake flour increased protein and total phenolic content and enhanced antioxidant
activity. The selected combination of raw materials allows the production of gluten-free
crackers with a moderate glycaemic index. Besides nutrient content, the addition of cold-
-pressed flour increased overall sensory acceptability, noticeably improving taste and flavour
scores compared to the control and crackers with virgin pumpkin seed flour.
Novelty and scientific contribution. To the best of our knowledge, there is no study investigating
the use of chickpea and pumpkin seed press cake flour blend without using
conventional gluten-free flour and starch. The used non-conventional flour represents
complementary raw materials in terms of protein quality and valuable alternatives to produce
nutrient-rich, health-promoting gluten-free crackers with reduced glycaemic response
and acceptable sensory properties.
