Formulation of functional gluten-free bread incorporating different levels of chia seed powder and evaluating the qualitative and nutritional properties of bread

Celiac disease (gluten susceptible enteropathy), is a common disease of the gastrointestinal tract and the only effective treatment is to use a diet free of gluten. The aim of this study was to explore the use of chia flour (3, 6, 9, and 12%) as a functional ingredient in gluten-free (GF) breadmaking and to evaluate its impact on the technological (volume, hardness, porosity and color), nutritional (protein, lipid, fiber, ash, phenolic content, flavonoid content and antioxidant activity) and sensory properties of the obtained loaves. Increasing levels of chia supplementation improved technological features of GF breads such as volume, specific volume and loaf height. Breads containing 12% chia powder showed the highest porosity, whereas the control showed the least porosity. By increasing the percentage of chia powder, the brightness (L) and yellowness (b) values of the crust and crumb decreased and redness (a) value increased significantly (p <0.05) compared to those of control. The lowest and highest hardness values were found in 12% chia bread and control, respectively. Results indicated that breads incorporating chia flour showed higher amounts of protein, fiber, ash and lipid. Increasing levels of chia led to a significant (P<0.05) increase in phenolic and flavonoids contents. Furthermore, the overall sensorial acceptability of GF breads containing 3% and 9% chia flours was higher than that of control.