Ecuadorian roots flours: Bioactive compounds and processing properties

Ecuador's an ecosystem that allows it to develop a wide variety of crops. The potato is the country's most consumed Andean domesticated root; however, other roots have excellent nutritional qualities but are classified as “lost crops”. White carrot, achira, papa China, sweet potato, Andean oca, and mashua are among these crops. From an industrial point of view, most of them present desirable properties for food processing. This research aimed to determine the bioactive compounds, and the technological properties of the flours made with nine Ecuadorian roots. The properties evaluated were water content and activity, particle size distribution, bulk and tap density, Hausner ratio, Carr index, hygroscopicity, water and fat absorption index, water solubility index, and color properties. It was observed that yellow Andean oca flour has considerable carotenoids (5.76 ± 0.05 mg β-carotene/100 g) and lycopene content (1.35 ± 0.01 mg/100 g), while purple sweet potato and mashua flours showed the highest total phenols (645 ± 8 and 450 ± 7 mgGA/100 g, respectively) due to anthocyanins. Regarding technological properties, the hygroscopicity increased strongly with time; however, the results of this study were lower than those reported in red beetroot and carrot hot air-dried. The yellow and white Andean oca flours showed the highest water absorption indexes (5.6 ± 0.1 and 5 ± 1, respectively), which is desired because it contributes to the consistency and yield of the food products. In contrast, the fat absorption index presented a high value in mashua (0.95 ± 0.02 g oil/g sample), which is especially desirable in food production to improve flavor retention and palatability. Finally, chroma analysis reinforced what was observed in the analysis of bioactive compounds, the carotenoid and lycopene content prevalence in the samples after drying.