The “tremendous grain” quinoa has the potential to make an excellent cookie, in line with analysis by Washington State College.
In a research revealed within the Journal of Meals Science, WSU researchers present that two varieties of quinoa, bred particularly to develop in Washington state, had nice performance as a possible high-fiber, high-protein additive flour for industrial cookies. This implies when baked, the cookies had good “spreadability” and texture.
Style assessments are nonetheless underway, however preliminary outcomes present that individuals most popular sugar cookies with 10% of the quinoa flour over a standard all-wheat flour cookie.
“It is the Holy Grail for meals scientists: we wish to develop one thing that individuals like to eat and wish to go purchase and purchase once more — and now we’re including some fiber in with out them even figuring out it,” mentioned Girish Ganjyal, a WSU meals scientist and the research’s corresponding creator.
Originating in South America, quinoa has a bunch of dietary advantages: it’s excessive in fiber, protein, nutritional vitamins and minerals. It’s also gluten-free. Whereas the grain is widespread with well being fans, it has but to take off with many mainstream shoppers. WSU researchers are working to alter that.
Whereas no official counts can be found, WSU plant breeder Kevin Murphy estimates that quinoa is grown on greater than 5,000 acres within the Pacific Northwest at present, and extra farmers have an interest.
Murphy, a co-author on this research, has been breeding quinoa traces particularly to develop nicely within the Pacific Northwest local weather whereas sustaining, and even enhancing, the crop’s dietary advantages. He has been collaborating with Ganjyal since 2014 on enhancing methods to deliver these crops to shoppers’ tables.
The present research additionally recognized one sort of quinoa that works greatest for “pre-cooked grain salad” — a extra acquainted use for quinoa — in addition to figuring out the quinoa varieties that labored nicely in baking cookies.
Meals science research like this, mixed with subject trials that reveal the crops’ agronomic traits, will assist WSU researchers resolve which quinoa breeding traces to launch for growers’ use in 2023.
In flip, the knowledge will assist farmers resolve which sort of quinoa they could plant, already figuring out how they may promote the crop they harvest, Ganjyal mentioned.
On this research, researchers checked out ten completely different quinoa breeding traces and examined them as a flour in cookies at 25% as much as 100% quinoa. Most of the breeding traces held up nicely on the decrease ranges however the cookies tended to crumble as they approached 100% quinoa flour.
The preliminary outcomes from the style assessments additionally present that utilizing as much as 25% quinoa flour tended to have higher outcomes. The researchers purposely selected sugar cookies for the style check as a result of they’re plain versus chocolate chip cookies which could masks any taste from the quinoa. For the sugar cookie, somewhat quinoa might need a bonus, mentioned Elizabeth Nalbandian, the research’s first creator and a Ph.D. pupil in Ganjyal’s lab.
“I feel at 10%, quinoa added a kind of nutty taste that individuals actually favored,” she mentioned, noting the testers favored it much more than the management complete flour cookie.
The quinoa appreciation tended to wane after about 30% substitution, Nalbandian mentioned, in all probability as a result of the feel began turning into grittier. Nonetheless, she sees potential for quinoa flour notably within the gluten-free market as lots of these baked merchandise might be low in dietary content material.
The researchers will proceed working to develop and check quinoa meals merchandise, and Ganjyal famous that Nalbandian is especially nicely suited to this work as a result of she has expertise within the culinary arts and holds an undergraduate diploma in hospitality and enterprise administration in addition to in meals science.
“This can be a chef’s artwork in addition to a science,” he mentioned.
