Sustainable Process for Tortilla Production Using Ohmic Heating with Minimal Impact on the Nutritional Value,...

Area of Science:

• Food Science and Technology
• Nutritional Biochemistry
• Sustainable Food Processing

Background:

• Traditional nixtamalization for tortillas is time-consuming and produces pollutant effluents.
• Ohmic heating (OH) is an emerging technology for rapid, uniform food heating with reduced environmental impact.
• Nutrient bioavailability following OH processing requires further investigation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the impact of Ohmic heating (OH) on the nutritional value, protein, and calcium content of tortillas.
• To compare the effects of OH-processed tortillas (OHTs) with traditionally processed tortillas (TPTs) and commercial tortillas (CTs) in a rat model.
• To assess the bioavailability of nutrients and the impact on bone health from OHTs.

Main Methods:

• A 21-day feeding study using male Wistar rats (n=25) with diets including raw corn (RC), OHTs, TPTs, CTs, and a casein diet (CD).
• Analysis of weight gain, protein digestibility, serum albumin, and protein efficiency ratio (PER).
• Evaluation of bone characteristics and fracture strength using X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy.

Main Results:

• Ohmic heating (OH) significantly increased insoluble fiber content compared to other diets.
• OHTs showed superior protein digestibility (88.52%), 3% higher than other tortilla groups.
• While serum albumin indicated moderate malnutrition, bone thickness and crystallinity were improved by OHTs and TPTs compared to RC.

Conclusions:

• Ohmic heating (OH) is a viable, eco-friendly method for tortilla production, preserving nutritional quality.
• OHTs demonstrate enhanced protein digestibility and comparable bone health benefits to traditionally processed tortillas.
• Further research into tortilla protein content is recommended to address potential malnutrition concerns.