In-Vivo Efficacy of Buckwheat Flour Incorporated Food Products on the Blood Glucose and Lipid Profiles

Introduction

Buckwheat, potential functional food, is mainly consumed as grains or flour. The concept of value addition to foods has increased the use of underutilized pseudo-cereals like buckwheat in bakery foods and convenience foods ¹. In recent times, buckwheat sprouts are also available for consumption ². Also, buckwheat being gluten-free, can be highly recommended for subjects with gluten intolerance or celiac disease. Buckwheat is found to be a good source of proteins (80% digestibility), lipids, dietary fiber, flavonoids especially rutin, phenolic acids, B-complex vitamins, isoprenoids, phagopyritols, sterols, iminosugars, and hence has gained focus as a functional food by lowering cholesterol levels, glucose levels, anticancer and anti-inflammatory activity ^3,4. Research has thrown a positive light on the health benefits attained by consuming buckwheat and buckwheat-enriched food products in both, in-vitro and in-vivo studies ^[5]. The bioactive components in buckwheat with abundant biotic functions have renewed the curiosity to source its utilization as an alternative crop ⁶. A systemic review has shown that buckwheat supplementation had significantly decreased blood glucose and lipid levels when compared with controls ⁷.

Though, buckwheat is a source of the aforementioned nutrients, the processing techniques pose a question of the bioavailability of the nutrients. In this study, buckwheat is processed to flour by milling, which is a widely perceived technique, where, the husk and outer layers are separated, thus the ratio of fibers, minerals, and polyphenolic compounds becomes lower ⁸. Hence, to overcome the incongruities in the nutritional values, the bran was added to the flour after milling and the whole buckwheat flour was used for incorporation into the food products.

The heat treatment employed for the preparation of buckwheat flour-enriched bakery products like bread and cakes and in the formulation of extruded products like noodles, pasta, and spaghetti, resulted in a decrease in the bioactive components ⁹. With an insight into the nutritional components and the losses that occur during food formulations due to extraneous factors, in this study, we have considered the development of food products like chapatti, nutri ball, and soup mix, which involve less processing and hence more health benefits are reserved.

Materials and Methods

Selection and processing of ingredients

The raw materials required for the formulation of buckwheat flour...