This study revealed that the addition of chestnut flour to two
common gluten free mixtures influenced some of the characteristics
of breads just after baking and during storage. The different
ingredients of the gluten free mixtures led from the beginning to
dissimilar loaves: M1 showed lower volume, harder and lighter
crumb, softer and darker crust than M2. The addition of chestnut
flour led to volume reduction, different crumb grain characteristic
with larger alveoli and hardened the crumb texture just after
baking and during the shelf life for all the breads, particularly for
M2 breads. The crust hardness appeared to be not significantly
influenced by the chestnut addition in both breads. However,
breads obtained with the two mixtures showed different moisture
dynamics, independently from the chestnut flour enrichment.
Improved colour was observed after the addition of the chestnut
flour, resulting darker and more stable along the shelf-life. The
improved antioxidant activity measured in both the chestnut
enriched breads was retained during the entire shelf-life, particularly
for M1C. In addition, the enrichment with 20 g/100 g of
chestnut flour (M1C) caused a significant increase in soluble,
insoluble and total fibre content; on the contrary, 10 g/100 g of
chestnut flour (M2C) didn't lead to significant differences. No differences
in starch digestibility were observed in all the samples. In
conclusion, the addition of chestnut flour to commercial glutenfree
mixtures appeared to be promising for commercial mixture
F1gf representing an interesting starting point for further studies
for improving the with the aim to reduce the defects in the final
products.