Comparison of Chemical Parameters in Zinc Biofortified Flours of Triticum aestivum L. Development of a Functional Food

In the next 30 years a sharp increase in the world population is expected, which determines the need of an increasing food production, linked to a high nutritional pattern, to ensure human health. In this context, as bread wheat is one of the most produced cereals worldwide, its mineral enrichment through agronomic biofortification is of great interest. Under this framework, considering that zinc deficiency triggers some pathologies in the human population, this study presents an agronomic workflow for Zn enrichment of bread wheat and aimed to evaluate the technological quality of the related flours (whole and refined bread wheat flours), to create an innovative product, with added value and capable of supplying nutritional deficiencies in zinc. Tests were carried out after three foliar applications of Zn-EDTA, in three different concentrations, in Paiva and Roxo varieties of Triticum aestivum L. Therefore, an analytical determination of ash and moisture contents, Zn, Ca and K on bread wheat flours and scanning colorimetry were carried out. Whole bread wheat flours submitted to the workflow of Zn enrichment revealed, relatively to refined flours, higher contents of ash, Zn, Ca and K. Nevertheless, in the scanning colorimetric analysis, two transmittance peaks were recorded at 550 and 650 nm in the regions of the visible spectrum, in which the whole flour presented lower values. The obtained data is discussed, being concluded that whole wheat flours resulted in flours nutritionally more interesting, allowing the design of innovative and functional foods produced from Zn enriched flours with added value.