The development of functional foods is often limited by industrial manufacturing processes, for example, for the production of baked foods, the use of high cooking temperatures causes denaturation of proteins, destruction of vitamins, alteration of fatty acids, etc. The protection of these components is essential in the production of gluten-free foods as they are generally poor in proteins and vitamins. Developing gluten-free foods enriched in proteins and vitamins using food by-products and developing production methods capable of preserving these biomolecules is the basis of the proposed technology.
Specifically, the production process of gluten-free functional foods involves 1. the identification of food by-products, 2. the transformation into flour, 3. the creation of mixtures, 4. the production of bakery products with specially developed cooking methods
The innovation lies in the use of food by-products for the production of flours or vegetable extracts to be used for the production of gluten-free functional foods and aimed at celiacs or gluten intolerant (gluten sensitivity or non-celiac gluten sensitivity). In the current gluten-free scenario, there are no functional foods whose health principles are derived from food by-products. In subjects who eliminate gluten from their diet, the use of products based on rice/corn flour generates malnutrition as these flours have a low level of nutrients and a high level of sugar. In fact, such subjects often develop glucose intolerance. Developing enriched food products derived from the processing of certain plant products could enrich such foods. The biomolecules that would be obtained from food by-products would fortify these foods and make them more eco-sustainable.