Edible Japanese seaweed, wakame (Undaria pinnatifida) as an ingredient in pasta: Chemical, functional and structural evaluation

Wakame (Undaria pinnatifida) is edible seaweed rich in fucoxanthin; whilst, pasta is an important dish from nutritional and gastronomic point of view. Pasta was prepared with wakame as an ingredient at different levels. In vitro antioxidant properties, total phenolic content, fatty acid composition, fucoxanthin and fucosterol contents formed the major bio-functional characteristics analysed. Pasta with 10% wakame was acceptable sensorially. The total phenolic content varied between 0.10 and 0.94 mg gallic acid equivalents (GAE)/g, whilst total antioxidant activity varied from 0.16 to 2.14 mg ascorbic acid equivalents (AAE)/g, amongst different samples. 2,2-Diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and superoxide radical scavenging activities of sensorily acceptable pasta were 7.71% and 4.56%, respectively. The sensorily acceptable pasta had a mild seaweed flavour with taste similar to control pasta, as assessed by panelists. The ratio of n-3 to n-6 fatty acid in seaweed incorporated pasta was 1:3.4 as compared to 1:15.2 in the control. Heat process involved in pasta preparation and cooking did not destroy fucoxanthin. Microstructure studies revealed the enhanced interaction between starch granules and protein matrix in pasta containing seaweeds up to 20%.