Nutritional, antioxidant and phytochemical characterization of healthy ready-to-eat expanded snack produced from maize/common bean mixture by extrusion

In this research, a healthy ready-to-eat expanded snack was produced using a maize/common bean (70/30%) mixture and characterized for its nutritional value, antioxidant potential, and phytochemical composition. Free and bound extracts were obtained and analyzed for phenolic profiles by ultra-high performance liquid chromatography with diode-array detector-tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-DAD-MSn) and antioxidant activity (IC50) by ABTS and DPPH methods. Fatty acids and amino acid profiles were obtained by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), respectively. Fourteen phenolic compounds were identified and quantified (mg/100 g, dw); the main compounds included three phenolic acids (ferulic, diferulic, p-coumaric) and three flavonoids (naringenin, kaempferol, methyl isoflavone). The IC50 (mg/mL) values obtained by ABTS (4.17 and 0.12) were smaller than those measured by DPPH (5.93 and 0.33). Seven fatty acids were also identified and the two most abundant were unsaturated (oleic, linoleic). The snack also showed an acceptable balance of amino acids according to the FAO, 2013 requirements, as well as a chemical score = 74.09 in vitro protein digestibility = 77.21%, C-PER = 1.53 and PDCAAS = 57.20%. The expanded snack could be source of bioactive, nutritional and antioxidant compounds for the improvement of the consumer's health.

Automated summary

This research produced a healthy ready-to-eat expanded snack using a maize/common bean mixture, characterized for its nutritional value, antioxidant potential, and phytochemical composition. The snack contained identified phenolic compounds, fatty acids, and amino acid profiles, showing promising bioactive and antioxidant properties beneficial for consumer health.