Wheat-Free and Nutritious Bread and 'Coricos' Made with Mesoamerican Ancestral Corn, Amaranth, Sweet Potato and Chia

People with wheat-related disorders require wheat-free and good quality baked goods. We prepared wheat-free bread and cookies (coricos) with flour blends of corn, amaranth, orange sweet potato and chia. Sweet potato flour or puree and amaranth flour were prepared and their properties evaluated. Blends were optimized for dough hardness and cohesiveness by response surface methodology, with a central composite rotatory design. Bread was prepared with optimal blends plus 1.2% chia mucilage, and alternatively used sweet potato puree. The optimized blend was 57:34:9 (corn:amaranth:sweet potato flours). Coricos were made with the blend instead of only corn as traditionally. Chemical composition, texture profile, fiber, and gluten content of the products were analyzed. The breads' crust was uniform, crunchy and golden, and the crumb was homogeneous, with 41% specific volume and 60% size of the wheat bread. Coricos presented a darker golden color than those of 100% corn. Protein content was similar (~ 12% d.w.) between the blend and wheat breads, with better chemical score for the blend one. Blend bread and coricos had 2-4% more dietary fiber and higher content of bioactive compounds than their wheat or corn counterparts. Blend bread was comparable to its counterpart in chewiness while coricos were softer. Gluten content was < 20 ppm in blend products; therefore, in addition to nutritional quality, they are safe for people with wheat-related disorders.