Okra seed and seedless pod: comparative study of their phenolics and carbohydrate fractions and their impact on bread-making

Abstract The outstanding amount of phenolics and pectins of okra seeds and seedless pods, respectively, is well-known. However, their impact on bread nutritional quality, and particularly on slowing down α-amylase activity during crumb digestion, has never been studied. In this work, the phenolic and carbohydrate fractions of developed fine and coarse flours from okra seeds (OS) and seedless pods (OP) were investigated as well as their impact on wheat bread physical and nutritional quality. The use of okra flours dramatically increased the amount of extractable (EPP) and non-extractable hydrolyzable phenolics (HPP) of wheat breads, attaining up to 210.8 and 2944.8 mg/100g of EPP and HPP, respectively, with only a 5% replacement with OS. Interestingly, breads made with fine OS and OP exhibited a second digestion rate upon 50 min of digestion, indicating a time-dependence hypoglycemic effect of okra constituents whereby OS-breads presented the slowest digestion rate and extension among all breads.