Abstract:The nutritional value and quality of chestnut products can be determined by the processing and digestion properties of the whole chestnut flour. In this study, the properties of the whole chestnut flour was modified via extrusion combined with the addition of the common food additive, guar gum, and ferulic acid. The freeze-thaw stability, water absorption, oil absorption, rheological properties and in vitro digestibility were systematically investigated. The results showed that extrusion combined with the use of guar gum enhanced the freeze-thaw stability, water absorption and water solubility of the whole chestnut powder, decreased its oil absorption, gelatinization temperature, increased breakdown value, while redulating its paste stability. As for the rheological properties, extrusion along with guar gum helped improve the rigidity of gel during the storage of whole chestnut flour, but with the increase of addition amount, the gel rigidity decreased. Further introduction of ferulic acid into the system increased the peak viscosity, pasting temperature and breakdown value, though having relatively small impacts on freeze-thaw stability, water absorption, water solubility and oil absorption. Meanwhile, extrusion along with addition of 3 wt.% guar gum and 3 wt.% ferulic acid increased the anti-digestibility components of the whole chestnut flour by 27.00%~32.10%. The results of this study showed that extrusion combined with the addition of guar gum and ferulic acid can effectively influence the processing properties of whole chestnut flour, and provide basic data for the creation of novel chestnut foods.
