Impact of lipids on the functional, rheological, pasting and thermal properties of ultrasound-processed canary seed flours

Canary seed, a gluten-free cereal, is renowned for its high content of fats, starch, and proteins. The extraction of oil is often necessary to extend flour shelf life or obtain purified starch and protein fractions. Similar to many gluten-free flours, it may require additional thermal treatments to enhance its suitability to formulate several food products. Thus, this study investigated the impact of ultrasound (US) treatment on the techno-functional and physicochemical properties of both whole (WCS) and defatted (DWCS) canary seed flours. The US treatment slightly increased water and oil absorption capacities in WCS. Lipids in the flour and treatment temperature affected the surfactant properties. Untreated and treated defatted DWCS flours exhibited higher emulsifying activity (up to +36%) and foaming capacity (up to +340%) than WCS. The presence of lipids and US treatment influenced protein extraction, with changes in albumins (WCS and DWCS), globulins (DWCS) and prolamins (WCS) recovery. US treatment altered pasting and rheological properties of all studied flours, impacting viscosity and starch-lipid complex formation. Rheological properties were lipid-dependent, and defatted samples formed stronger gels. US treatment decreased gelatinization enthalpy in WCS (up to -9.5%) and increased it in DWCS (up to +11.3%) flours. Moreover, lipids significantly influenced retrogradation, which was absent in untreated and treated WCS flours. US-treated flours displayed similar diffraction patterns to untreated samples, but with reduced intensities as temperature increased. The untreated defatted sample exhibited a 9% lower crystallinity. These findings highlight the benefits of US treatment and defatting for improving gluten-free food products formulated with canary seed flour.