In order to investigate the nutritional quality of industrial-scale sprouted versus unsprouted chickpeas and green peas, before and after cooking, the ultrastructure, chemical composition, antioxidant capacity, starch digestibility, mineral content and accessibility were analysed. Sprouting did not deeply affect raw seed structure, although after cooking starch granules appeared more porous and swelled. Chemical composition of raw sprouted seeds was not strongly affected, excepting an increase in protein (both pulses), and in free sugars (in peas; +10% and +80%, respectively, p < .05). The industrial sprouting favoured phytic acid leaching in cooking water (−35% in seeds, compared to unsprouted cooked ones, p < .05), and promoted antioxidant capacity reductions in raw and cooked seeds (−10% and −37%, respectively, p < .05). In conclusion, sprouting on an industrial-scale induced mild structural modifications in chickpeas and peas, sufficient to reduce antinutritional factors, without strongly influencing their nutritional quality. These products could represent nutritionally interesting ingredients for different dietary patterns as well as for enriched cereal-based foods.

Inulin can improve the nutritional quality of gluten free (GF) bread and have a prebiotic activity. However, breadmaking might frustrate the enrichments efforts due to inulin loss. In this study we aimed at studying the inulin enrichment of GF bread. Two different yeasts [having normal (Y1) or reduced (Y2) invertase activity] were used to leaven the breads enriched with five marketed inulins, which differed for the degree of polymerization (DP) and the manufacturer. Inulin replaced 10% of the rice flour and had low, intermediate or high DP, which ranged from 2 to 20; ≈20; ≥20, respectively. Fructan hydrolysis occurred during leavening of Y1-GF breads, reaching losses up to 40% after baking, depending on the diverse DP of the inulin-forming fructans. Inulin loss was less relevant in Y2-GF breads (up to 5% after baking) than Y1-GF breads. Crumb texture was not negatively influenced by inulin presence, even if this was high (e.g., Y2-GF breads). Information collected within this study may provide further insight to better optimize a GF bread formulation in view of inulin enrichment.

Gluten-free (GF) products are consumed both by individuals with celiac disease and by an increasing number of people with no specific medical needs. Although the technological quality of GF products has been recently improved, their nutritional quality is still scarcely addressed. Moreover, the few published studies report conflicting results, mostly because the information from product nutrition facts is the only considered factor. The aim of the present study was to develop a score-based method for the nutritional evaluation of 134 packaged Italian GF bakery products and to compare it with that of 162 matched gluten-containing (GC) food items. The score included the information from the nutrition facts and the presence/absence of some nutritionally relevant components in the ingredients list. Results indicated an overall low nutritional quality of the considered GF bakery products. Additionally, with the sole exception of GF bread substitutes, there was no difference in nutritional quality between GF and equivalent GC bakery products. Future research and development of GF bakery products may take advantage of this scoring method, as it may represent an easy approach to evaluate their nutritional quality. The present findings do not justify the consumption of packaged GF bakery products by people without any specific medical needs.