DEVELOPMENT AND CHARACTERIZATION OF ADDED VALUE APPETIZER BISCUITS BASED ON BLACK RICE FLOUR.

The main purpose of this study followed the development of a functional product, a variety of biscuits with black rice flour, oat bran, almonds, and chia seeds. This type of biscuits revealed a high fibers content, 9.11 ± 0.5%, a fact attributed to the raw ingredients used, so as it is possible to label this type of product as "Rich in fiber". Furthermore, the black rice flour biscuits presented also a high protein concentration (23.25 ±1.04%). In addition to the high content of proteins and fibers, this type of black rice flour biscuits showed a high antioxidant activity of 77.01±0.80%. In regards to the in vitro digestion, the complex matrix of the biscuits allowed the protection of the antioxidant compounds, anthocyanins especially, in the gastric juice, allowing their release in the intestinal juice. Due to their composition, this category of biscuits can address a wide range of consumers, here including people with gluten intolerance (celiac disease). The developed functional product offers various advantages among them being the increase of product market share for the food industry targeting the people with gluten intolerance, the expansion of the functional products' field, the potential for technological transfer, and the development of new products with endowment in the specialized profile units. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]