Conditioning of the quinoa grain (chenopodium quinoa willd): influence of different operational variables on its hydration properties

Abstract

Quinoa is a pseudocereal of great agronomic versatility, noted for its great nutritional quality due to a high content of proteins, lipids, fiber, vitamins, minerals and amino acids.
With the aim of complementing our diet with the benefits provided by this food and preserving its shelf life, quinoa was dehydrated and milled, and the flour obtained was processed under different thermal treatments to evaluate how its quality is affected under diverse conditions.
Different drying temperatures (40, 60 and 80 °C) were tested to determine which is more conservative of the flour's hydration properties, which influence the degree of modification of the starches.
For a complete analysis, the results were contrasted at room temperature and with boiling water temperature, simulating cooking conditions. A better preservation of the analyzed properties was achieved for the 60°C drying and 85°C thermal bath treatment.