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ARS Home » Southeast Area » New Orleans, Louisiana » Southern Regional Research Center » Food Processing and Sensory Quality Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #192645
Title: PHYSICOCHEMICAL PROPERTIES OF GLUTEN-FREE PANCAKES FROM RICE AND SWEET POTATO FLOURS

Author
item Shih, Frederick
item TRUONG, VD - NC STATE UNIVERSITY
item Daigle, Kim

Submitted to: Journal of Food Quality
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 11/15/2005
Publication Date: 1/2/2006
Citation: Shih, F.F., Truong, V., Daigle, K.W. 2006. Physicochemical properties of gluten-free pancakes from rice and sweet potato flours. Journal of Food Quality.

Interpretive Summary: The prevalence of celiac disease (CD), an intolerance of gluten, has been reported to be as high as 1 in 200 of the world population. Celiac disease is a serious health issue and a challenge for food scientists, because CD can only be treated by strict adherence to a gluten-free diet. Rice flour and sweet potato flour are naturally gluten-free and have the potential to be a substitute for wheat flour in products, such as, pancakes. In this study, we prepared gluten-free pancakes using different ratios of rice and sweet potato flours. The products were analyzed for their rheological, nutritional, and textural properties. The results indicate that rice pancakes, at 20-40% sweet potato flour incorporation, showed an overall improvement in textural properties; including hardness, chewiness, and cohesiveness, which were comparable to those of the wheat pancake control. These rice-sweet potato pancakes had nutritional attributes such as protein content, dietary fiber, total carbohydrate, and calories, also comparable to those of the wheat counterpart. However, they had substantially higher contents in the nutrient beta-carotene. The development promotes the use of rice and sweet potato and creates healthy food products that meet the need of people who are sensitive to gluten.

Technical Abstract: Gluten-free pancakes were prepared using rice flour and rice flour replaced with various amounts at 10, 20, and 40% of sweet potato flour. Textural properties of the cooked pancakes, such as, hardness and chewiness generally increased with time after cooking, whereas, they decreased with increased sweet potato flour replacement. On the other hand, cohesiveness decreased with time, but increased with increased sweet potato flour in the pancake. Nutritional properties of the rice-sweet potato pancakes, such as, protein content, dietary fiber, total carbohydrate, and calories were generally comparable with those of their wheat counterpart. The only significant difference was in the beta-carotene content, which increased from 5.2 to 236.1 ug/g when sweet potato flour was incorporated from 0 to 40% into the rice pancake formulation.