Nutritional composition, lipid profile and stability, antioxidant activities and sensory evaluation of pasta enriched by linseed flour and linseed oil

Pasta assortments fortified with high quality foods are a modern nutritional trend. This study
explored the effects of fortification with linseed flour (LF) and linseed oil (LO) on durum wheat
pasta characteristics. Wheat flour semolina was replaced with 5%, 10% and 15% of LF or 1%,
2.5% and 5% of LO. Control pasta CP (without LF or LO addition), LF-enriched pasta LFP 5%,
LFP 10% and LFP 15% and LO-enriched pasta LOP 1%, LOP 2.5% and LOP 5% was
compared for the proteins, fat and phenolic contents and fatty acids (FA) profile. Impact on lipid
oxidation and sensory evaluation were also determined. Fortification of pasta with LF improved
significantly (p < 0.05) the contents of protein, fat and phenolic compared to CP whereas the
enrichment of pasta with LO resulted in a significant increase (p < 0.05) in the content of fat and
a significant decrease in protein and phenolic contents. All the formulations decreased the
saturated FA percent and increased the polyunsaturated FA percent with enhancement of
omega-3 FA content. Antioxidant activity measured by FRAP and DPPH assays was improved
after the fortification. For lipid oxidation, the replacement of semolina by LF or LO promoted an
increase (p < 0.05) on TBARS values in level-dependent manner. Regarding sensory
evaluation, the two types of fortification did not affect the taste; flavor and aroma of cooked
pasta but LOP 5% showed the highest score of the overall acceptability. The results
recommended the possibility of producing pasta supplemented with LF or LO (even at a level of
15% and 5% respectively) as a functional food.