The current trend in the food industry is towards “clean label” products with high sensory and nutritional quality. However, the inclusion of nutrient-rich ingredients in recipes often leads to sensory deficiencies in baked goods. To meet these requirements, physically modified flours are receiving more and more attention from bakery product developers. There are various findings in the literature on high hydrostatic pressure (HHP) technology, which can be used to modify various matrices so that they can be used as ingredients in the baking industry. HHP treatments can change the functionality of starches and proteins due to cold gelatinization and protein unfolding. As a result, the resulting ingredients are more suitable for nutrient-rich bakery formulations. This review describes the information available in the literature on HHP treatment conditions for ingredients used in the production of bakery products and analyses the changes in the techno-functional properties of these matrices, in particular their ability to act as structuring agents. The impact of HHP-treated ingredients on the quality of dough and bakery products and the effects on some nutritional properties of the treated matrices have been also analysed. The findings presented in this paper could be of particular interest to the bakery industry as they could be very useful in promoting the industrial application of HHP technology.

Bread is a widely consumed food that has often been used as a vehicle for functional ingredients such as dietary fibre. Fibre-rich breads have beneficial physiological effects on health, helping to combat chronic pathologies such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and certain types of colon cancer. The aim of this study is to evaluate the technological and nutritional effects of the inclusion of buckwheat hull particles (BH) at two addition levels (3 and 6%) and two particle sizes (fine, D₅₀: 62.7 μm; coarse, D₅₀: 307 μm) in a gluten-free (GF) bread formulation. A significant (p < 0.05) increase in the dough elastic modulus (G’) was observed for all doughs containing BH, from 712 Pa for a rice-based dough to 1027–3738 Pa for those containing BH. Compared to rice-based breads, those containing BH showed a significant (p < 0.05) increase in total dietary fibre content (from three to five times) and in antioxidant capacity (from 78 to 290 mg TE/100 g dw. in the ORAC test). Breads containing fine BH at a level of 3% had similar sensory properties to the rice-based bread, demonstrating that it is possible to improve the TDF content while maintaining the sensory quality of the GF bread.

Refined rice flour is widely used in gluten-free (GF) food formulations due to its suitable sensory attributes. However, its limited techno-functional and nutritional properties make it advisable to implement various technological solutions to improve the quality of the final products. Non-thermal processing technologies, such as high hydrostatic pressure (HHP), are promising strategies to functionalise flours, enhancing their suitability for GF applications. To date, studies aimed at investigating the application of HHP to promote modifications in the functional properties of cereals and cereal products have been scarce and mainly focussed on HHP direct application on basic matrices, such as starches and refined flours. Alternatively, the present study investigated the effects of the combined treatment of pre-soaking and HHP (600 MPa/5, 15, and 30 min of holding time) on whole rice grains to optimise the techno-functional and nutritional properties of the resulting brown rice flours. Flours obtained from the combined treatments exhibited a significant ( p < 0.05) increase in water absorption capacity, while emulsifying activity decreased as holding time increased. The levels of bioactive compounds, particularly thiamine and total phenolic content, were significantly ( p < 0.05) increased in flours treated with the combined pre-soaking and HHP process. Furthermore, flours produced through pre-soaking followed by extended HHP treatment (15 and 30 min) demonstrated significantly higher ( p < 0.05) antioxidant capacity compared with untreated flour and the remaining samples analysed. The findings of the present study suggest that HHP treatment on a whole-grain matrix is an efficient strategy for the production of gluten-free whole-grain flour, resulting in an ingredient with favourable techno-functional properties and enhanced nutritional characteristics.