Improved functional properties of pasta: Enrichment with amaranth seed flour and dried amaranth leaves

• Grains and tasty leaves of amaranth provide healthy food products.
• Pastas with both flour and leaves from amaranth showed high protein and crude fiber contents.
• Addition of amaranth leaves increases pasta contents of Fe, Zn, Mg and K.
• Amaranth protein and leaves are sources of bioactive peptides and antioxidants, respectively.

The present investigation evaluated the effects of dried amaranth leaves (DAL) and amaranth seed flour (AF) as ingredients for pasta production and their contribution to antioxidant activity. Cooking quality, proximal and aroma analysis, antioxidant capacity and sensory evaluations were performed. The results demonstrated that pastas with amaranth ingredients had decreased cooking time, increased cooking loss percentage, and decreased luminosity values compared with semolina control pasta. Pastas with both AF and DAL demonstrated the highest protein, crude fiber and ash contents. The addition of DAL resulted in higher contents of iron, zinc, magnesium and potassium compared with the control pasta. TC, FRAP and ORAC assays showed that the pastas exhibited an important reduction in antioxidant capacity by cooking process. Formulas with DAL showed the higher antioxidant capacity values after cooking. The addition of AF and DAL has proved to increase the functional benefits of the pasta.