Development of gluten free bread containing carob flour and resistant starch

Gluten free bread from rice flour substituted with carob flour and resistant starch (RS) was investigated. RS and protein amount added were optimized in model gluten free breads (MGFB's) containing rice flour using Response Surface Methodology (RSM). RS addition did not influence MGFB's crumb firmness, but it acted as an elastifying agent. A MGFB with soft and elastic crumb was produced with 10 g protein/100 g flour and 15 g RS/100 g flour. MGFB recipe was further improved by adding carob flour. Its addition raises the water content needed for the breadmaking procedure, but did not significantly affect any of the textural and structural parameters measured. Water amount increase diminished crumb firmness and contributed to the development of an open crumb cell structure. The design allowed the determination of the optimum formulation for obtaining gluten-free bread with low crumb firmness and improved porosity values by combining 15 g carob flour/100 g flour, 15 g RS/ 100 g flour, 10 g protein/ 100 g flour and 140 g water/ 100 g flour. The use of carob flour and RS constitutes a promising approach in producing fibre-rich formulations of high quality characteristics in order to fulfil population deficiency of dietary fibre intake.