Physico-chemical and nutritional characteristics of einkorn flour cookies

Einkorn (Triticum monococcum L.) is a diploid wheat whose kernels are rich in proteins, carotenoids, tocols, phenolic acids, and trace minerals. Our research analyzed the physico-chemical and nutritional characteristics of einkorn cookies prepared from refined flour of two einkorns (ID1395 and Monlis) and one common wheat (Blasco). The traits analyzed were color, size, and surface texture (Image Analysis); inner texture (Bending and Penetration tests); carotenoids and tocols content and composition; furosine, glucosylisomaltol, and hydroxymethylfurfural as heat damage indices (HPLC). Einkorn cookies were thinner, larger, slightly darker, with smoother surface, and higher breaking resistance than the control cookies. Furthermore, they had more carotenoids (5.0 vs. 2.2 mg/kg DM) and showed less heat damage (188.5 vs. 242.4 mg furosine/100 g protein) than common wheat cookies. Room-temperature storage under dark in sealed plastic containers led to a decrease in lutein (8%-17%) and furosine (20%) and an increase in hardness, especially in einkorn cookies. Practical applications To satisfy the ever-increasing interest of the consumers in foods with better nutritional characteristics, the food industry is continuously exploring new formulations. Einkorn is a very promising candidate because of the outstanding composition of its flour. However, little information is available on sweet-baked goods from einkorn. Our results clearly demonstrate that this wheat is perfect, from both the technological and the composition aspects, for preparing high nutritional value cookies with better nutraceutical properties than standard bread wheat cookies. Therefore, the food industry can directly use einkorn as an input ingredient for sweet-baked goods using current production methods.