Incorporation of hemp flour to obtain gluten-free noodles of higher nutritional quality

One of the most important challenges in the production of gluten-free foods is the need to improve their nutritional quality. This work attempts to produce gluten-free noodles by substituting three different percentages of corn flour with hemp and to evaluate their technological and nutritional quality. This study used corn flour with 10.33 % protein and 1.57 % fiber and commercial hemp flour with 23.57 % protein and 28.75 % fiber. The pastas were made by extrusion by adding pregelatinized starch, ovalbumin and salt to obtain the control, then substitutions were made with 5 %, 10 % and 15 % hemp flour. The addition of hemp flour did not significantly affect the most important quality indicators, such as optimum cooking time and cooking residue, and even increased the firmness of the cooked pasta. Protein and fiber content increased significantly. It can be concluded that the addition of these percentages of hemp flour does not produce a deterioration of the technological quality of gluten-free pasta and allows for an increase in fiber and protein content, generating a significant improvement of nutritional quality.