Physical, sensorial, and antioxidant properties of common wheat pasta enriched with carob fiber

- The addition of carob fiber to common wheat pasta is proposed.
- The color properties of pasta strongly depended from carob fiber addition.
- The addition of carob fiber up to 4 g/100 g into common wheat flour is recommended.
- Carob fiber enhanced the antioxidant properties of pasta.
- The active compounds were highly bioaccessible in vitro.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of carob fiber on pasta properties. Common wheat flour was substituted with 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 g/100 g of carob fiber. Pasta properties including firmness, color, cooking time, sensory analysis, and antioxidant properties were evaluated. The results showed that carob fiber slightly increased the weight increase index and decreased the optimum cooking time. The lightness of pasta strongly decreased with the proportion of carob fiber, from 61.7 to 26.5 and from 55.8 to 38.6 for uncooked and cooked samples, respectively, whereas the total color difference changed from 24.4 to 38.6 and from 9.6 to 17.2, respectively. A linear decrease in pasta cutting force was observed as the proportion of carob fiber increased. The sensory evaluation of pasta showed that the additive decreased scores for pasta smell but increased scores for color evaluation. Carob fiber up to 4 g/100 g of wheat flour had little effect on pasta's overall acceptability and significantly increased total phenolics content and antioxidant activity of samples. Digestion in vitro caused an increase in total phenolics content and antioxidant activity.