Gluten-free spaghetti made with chickpea, unripe plantain and maize flours: Functional and chemical properties and starch digestibility

The development of gluten-free spaghetti with a low amount of glycaemic carbohydrate was investigated. The goal of this study was to determine the chemical composition, cooking quality and starch digestibility of gluten-free spaghetti elaborated with mixtures of chickpea, unripe plantain and maize flours. The gluten-free spaghetti presented a higher protein, fat and ash content than the control semolina spaghetti. The solid loss among all the gluten-free spaghetti was in the range of 10.04-10.91% and not significantly different from each other. These values were almost at the limit of acceptability to be considered as good cooking quality. Total starch in the gluten-free spaghetti was lower than the control spaghetti. The lower available starch (AS) and higher resistant starch contents in the gluten-free spaghetti were associated with their lower rate of hydrolysis and predicted glycaemic index. There is a potential for developing gluten-free spaghetti with reduced amount of glycaemic carbohydrates from unconventional food ingredients such as chickpea, unripe plantain and maize flours.