Effects of extrusion temperature and feed composition on the functional, physical and sensory properties of chestnut and rice flour-based snack-like products

Abstract Snack-like products were obtained by extrusion-cooking of chestnut–rice flour blend-based doughs, by forming the extruded dough in pellets and then baking them in a toaster, in order to obtain adequate puffing. The effects of chestnut flour content and of extrusion temperature on functional (water adsorption index, water-holding capacity and water solubility index) and physical (density, moisture content and color) properties of the extrudates were investigated. Since chestnuts are particularly rich in sugars, the flour content limited the gelatinization and the expansion of the product, moreover the combined effect of flour content and temperature enhanced the browning reactions. Chestnut flour was found to be suitable for the extrusion-cooking process adopted if properly mixed with rice flour, with 30% chestnut flour percentage processed at 120 °C producing a snack-like product with limited density and browning that was judged good by a sensory panel.