Functional Cookies Using Pre-Hispanic, Popular "Superfoods"

Non-communicable diseases such as type 2 diabetes mellitus and

hypertension are the main health and development challenges facing humankind all over the world in the twenty-first century. Malnutrition is one of the main public health problems affecting many countries and is associated, in many cases, with the high intake of hypercaloric foods with low dietary fiber, minerals and vitamins. Researchers in Mexico sought to use local, pre-Hispanic (native to the location), popular “superfoods” to increase the healthiness of cookies, called functional cookies.

Oyster mushrooms, nopal, and amaranth were dried, milled and used as flour for these cookies. The oyster mushroom is the most important microbial agri-food chain in Mexico, due to its texture being similar to chicken. It is very popular in the diets of vegetarians and vegans. It is likely an antioxidant and antidiabetic.

Nopal is the most famous, edible cactus worldwide. It is likely an antioxidant and antineoplastic. It is rich in amino acids, polyunsaturated fatty acids, vitamins and dietary fiber. The earliest archeological finding of amaranth was 4000 BC. Today, it is named a “superfood”. It is considered to be an antioxidant-rich food. Due to it being naturally gluten-free, it has increased in popularity.

The main purpose of this research was to evaluate the impact of the partial replacement (50%) of wheat flour with three formulations of oyster mushroom, nopal and amaranth flours on the nutritional and antioxidant properties of functional cookies. The secondary purpose of this study was to contribute to fortifying traditional types of cookies that lack nutraceutical compounds and antioxidant activity by replacing a significant portion of the wheat flour with iconic culturally rooted foods, thus providing reliable insight into these cookies’ functionality.

Cookies prepared with the highest nopal level contained 5.29% of dietary fiber and five times higher polyphenol (plant-based antioxidant compound) content than control cookies. The total protein and flavonoids were higher in fortified cookies than in controls. The ABTS scavenging antioxidant ability was similar in the three enriched cookies (87.73–89.58%), but higher than that in traditional cookies (75.60%). The taste testers disliked the cookies after 60% of amaranth flour was added. This caused a bitter aftertaste.

Overall, this research promotes Mexican renewable local bioresources for a sustainable agri-food chain. In conclusion, cookies supplemented with oyster mushroom flour, nopal flour and amaranth flour functional advantages over the conventional based whole wheat flour cookies.

The breakdown of flour proportions - Whole wheat flour: oyster mushroom flour: nopal flour: amaranth flour

Source: Uriarte-Frías, G., Hernández-Ortega, M. M., Gutiérrez-Salmeán, G., Santiago-Ortiz, M. M., Morris-Quevedo, H. J., & Meneses-Mayo, M. (2021). Pre-Hispanic Foods Oyster Mushroom (Pleurotus ostreatus), Nopal (Opuntia ficus-indica) and Amaranth (Amaranthus sp.) as New Alternative Ingredients for Developing Functional Cookies. Journal of Fungi, 7(11), 911.