Novel flours from leguminosae () pods for technological improvement and nutritional enrichment of wheat bread.

Wheat bread is widely consumed in many Western cultures (>70 kg//year) despite the fact that the flour milling process reduces the content of dietary fibre, vitamins and minerals resulting in baked goods nutritionally poor. () fruit is an American carob that can be grinded to obtain different fractions such as endocarp, seeds, residue and the whole pod flours. The objective of the work was to analyse the chemical compositions, colour and physical, functional and hydration properties of grinding fractions from (); and also, study their application in wheat bread and their effect on rheological, textural and organoleptic characteristics.

About the endothermal transitions of galactomannans: A multi-analytical DSC, LF-H NMR and DMA study.

The thermal transitions of biopolymers were subject of great discussion in the 90s due to their relevance in structure development during processing and stability on storage. In the present work two galactomannans, vinal gum and guar gum, were evaluated by DSC, DMA and LF-H NMR in order to compare them, establishing their potential operational application range and promoting the use of the non-conventional VG in foods or other products. Three endothermal transitions appeared when heating the samples in the DSC: one at temperatures -90 to -10 °C (LTT), other around 50 °C (MTT) and a third one between 50 and 100 °C (HTT).

Formation of complexes between hematite nanoparticles and a non-conventional galactomannan gum. Toward a better understanding on interaction processes.

The physicochemical characteristics of hematite nanoparticles related to their size, surface area and reactivity make them useful for many applications, as well as suitable models to study aggregation kinetics. For several applications (such as remediation of contaminated groundwater) it is crucial to maintain the stability of hematite nanoparticle suspensions in order to assure their arrival to the target place. The use of biopolymers has been proposed as a suitable environmentally friendly option to avoid nanoparticle aggregation and assure their stability.