Introduction
Postharvest fruit and vegetable produce enormous amounts of waste, such as peels, seeds, and stems. These organic wastes contain valuable nutrients that could be used for different purposes. Agri-food wastes from fruits and vegetables are considered an essential source of bioactive compounds, including minerals, enzymes, vitamins, phenolic compounds, pigments [
1] , and macronutrients that can be extracted to produce new foods, drugs, biopolymers, and active food packaging. Inadequate disposal of these wastes causes environmental problems [
2]. Vegetable wastes are estimated to be around 1.6 billion tons per year of total production worldwide [
3]. Improper final disposal of this agricultural waste can lead to health problems and negative environmental impacts due to the discharge of leachates in the surrounding area and the consequent contamination of water sources and soils [
4]. These agro-industrial chains include coffee and plantain.
In the coffee-growing regions of Colombia, coffee (Coffea arabica L.) and plantain (Musa paradisiaca L.) are cultivated together due to their common climatic and soil conditions. Colombia is the third largest coffee-producing country after Brazil and Vietnam [
5]. Coffee has driven economic growth by generating income and employment for millions of rural households in the country, even though most of it is exported as green beans, and the value added from this product is concentrated in importing countries [
6]. Coffee postharvesting is generally carried out by wet processing. This method involves enormous water costs and produces several by-products, including hulls or pulp, leachates, cut stalks, mucilage, and others [
7] Coffee postharvesting is generally carried out by wet processing. This method involves enormous water costs and produces several by-products, including hulls or pulp, leachates, cut stalks, mucilage, and others[
8], indicating a significant production rate of this residue. Coffee pulp contains nutrients such as proteins, lipids, carbohydrates, and micronutrients including phosphorus, potassium, calcium, and magnesium [
9]. Additionally, coffee pulp contains bioactive compounds such as alkaloids, polysaccharides, terpenoids, flavonoids, tannins, and phenolic compounds [
10]. This indicates that coffee pulp is an agro-industrial waste with high potential for utilization.
On the other hand, plantain is one of the most representative crops in Colombia, as it is a primary product in the staple food basket, together with potato and cassava, representing 96.6% of daily consumption[
11]. During postharvest processing, up to 85% of residues are generated that are not recovered [
12]. These residues include flowering stem pseudo-stems (19.94%), leaf sheaths (56.78%), rachis (1.29%), leaves (5.40%), and rejected plantain fruits (1.16%). Rejected plantain fruits do not meet quality standards and are discarded [
12]. Plantain wastes are a source of polysaccharides such as starch, cellulose, and hemicellulose [
13]. This demonstrates significant potential for using plantain postharvest by-products.
Numerous studies have been conducted on the use of coffee and plantain residues. Coffee pulp has been used for the extraction of healthy bioactive compounds [
14]; [
10]; [
8], pectin extraction [
15], active edible films [
16], tea production [
17], non-wood paper [
18] and, sustainable cellulosic composites [
19]. Plantain wastes have been utilized for biogas production [
20], second-generation biorefineries [
21], biofuel [
22], starch extraction [
23], biofilters made of plantain pseudo-stem fiber [
24], pectin extraction from peel [
25], active edible coatings from the epicarp [
26], gluten-free spaghetti from unripe plantain flour [
27], and flour from rejected plantain[
28]. No studies focused on producing pre-cooked flour composed of coffee and plantain residues.
Extrusion is a technology used in many studies to produce precooked flours, as it has been shown to improve nutritional properties and antioxidant activity[
29]; [
30]; [
31]. Extrusion has also been reported to improve the pasting properties of flour for food production [
32]; [
33]. It is expected that extrusion applied as a precooking treatment in this study will promote or maintain the nutritional and physicochemical properties of plantain and coffee waste flours. Therefore, this work aimed to determine the effect of extrusion on the physicochemical properties, nutritional composition, and antioxidant capacity of flour blends made from coffee pulp, rachis plantain, and rejected plantain. The information obtained is useful for validating alternatives for utilizing these agro-industrial wastes.
Materials and Methods
Agroindustrial Byproducts
The coffee pulp and plantain (rachis and reject plantains) byproducts were obtained from farms in Trujillo, Valle del Cauca, Colombia (latitude 4° 12' 41'' north, longitude 76° 19' 13'' west, altitude 1317 masl). The coffee pulp (CP) was obtained from the mechanical pulping of freshly harvested cherry coffee fruits, the “Castillo” variety, at a ripe stage of maturity. The plantain rachis (PR) and rejected plantain (RP) were recollected manually after the plantain post-harvest. The PR and RP were cut off in a mechanical cutting machine (Poli, Colombia). Pieces of PR, RP, and CP were dried at 45 ºC for 19 hours until reaching 10±1% water content in a forced convection oven ED 115 (Binder, Germany). Finally, the PR, RP, and CP were reduced in size using a mill M20 (IKA, Germany) and sieved through a 40-mesh screen using a Rotap W.S. TYLER (Ohio, USA). The experimental byproducts were homogeneous flours (particle size < 0.425 mm).
Experimental Design and Statistical Analysis
Table 1 shows a simplex lattice mixture design with lattice grade 3 was performed. 17 experimental runs, including five center points, were conducted. The first three runs correspond to the pure raw materials used in the blends, and the last five runs correspond to the central points. The response variables were physicochemical, nutritional, and antioxidant properties. The data were analyzed using Minitab statistical software (version 19) to fit a model and optimize the responses. The data were fitted to the cubic special model for the regression analysis data, as shown in equation (1).
where:
y is the response variable, βi represents the model coefficients for each predictive variable, x1, x2 and x3 are independent variables corresponding to coffee pulp flour (CPF), reject plantain flour (RPF), and plantain rachis flour (PRF), respectively.
Optimization
Minitab statistical software (Version 19) was employed to determine the model equations, variance analysis, and optimization. The adequacy of the cubic special model was determined based on the lack of fit and the coefficient of determination. Additional experiments were conducted to verify the validity of the statistical results. Protein ratio and antioxidant activity were used as response variables to optimize the formulation of the extruded composite blend. For the optimization, the desirability function (D: global; d: individual) was used, which converts the functions to a standard scale between 0 and 1, combining them using geometric media and optimizing the general metric media [
34].
Extrusion
The 17 blends were extruded in a twin-screw extruder (DS32-II, Jainin Saixin Machinery Co®, China) with three heating zones. The three heating zones had a constant temperature: 100, 160, and 120 °C, respectively. The internal diameter of the outlet nozzle was 5 mm. The power supply frequency at the input and output was 18 Hz and 36 Hz, respectively. Before extrusion, all mixtures were conditioned to a moisture content of 18% on a wet basis. After processing, the extruded samples (water content < 11,5%) were cooled in the T-room for 4 h, reduced in size using a mill M20 (IKA, Germany), and sieved through a 40-mesh screen using a Rotap W.S. TYLER (Ohio, USA). The extruded composite flours were stored in sealed polypropylene bags at room temperature for further analysis. Physicochemical, nutritional, and antioxidant properties were measured before and after extrusion for all 17 treatments.
Physicochemical properties
The hydrogen potential was determined using a digital potentiometer. An aqueous solution was prepared with 1 g of sample and 10 mL of distilled water. The mixture was vortexed (Vortexer, Heathrow Scientific®,USA) for 5 min, then the hydrogen potential was measured. The device was calibrated, and a direct reading was performed by immersing the electrode in an aqueous solution [
35].
Water activity determinations were carried out using an Aqualab 4E dew point meter (Decagon, USA). The reading was made directly on the sample.
The samples' water absorption capacity (WAC) was measured. 1 g of sample was added to 10 mL of distilled water, and it was left to rest for 30 minutes at room temperature. Subsequently, the mixture was centrifuged at 5000 rpm for 30 minutes; the excess was discarded. Water absorbed was the difference between the sample's initial mass and the final mass after centrifugation [
36]. The results were expressed in g of water retained/g of sample.
The samples' oil absorption capacity (OAC) was measured using the same method described for WAC, but the water was replaced by oil [
36].
All tests were conducted in triplicate.
Nutritional composition
Moisture, protein, fat, crude fiber, carbohydrate, and ash contents were determined. All methodologies were carried out according to the protocols proposed by the Association of Official Analytical Chemists [
37]. Moisture content was determined by the oven drying method at 105 °C to constant weight. Protein content was determined using the Kjeldahl method. Fat content was determined using Soxhlet extraction equipment. The ash content was determined by the gravimetric method in a muffle furnace at 550 °C. Crude fiber content was determined by acid digestion, basic digestion, and subsequent dehydration and calcination. Carbohydrate content was determined by difference. The results were expressed in g per 100 g of sample (g/100 g).
Antioxidant Activity and Total Phenolic Content
Antioxidant Assays
For the antioxidant activity, DPPH and ABTS
∙+ reagents were prepared. The 2,2 diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) (Merck, Germany) reagent was prepared by dissolving 1 mg of DPPH in methanol to give an absorbance of 1.00 at 490 nm. The ABTS
∙+ radical was obtained by mixing 3.6 mg mL 2,2´-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) (ABTS) (Merck, Germany)
∙+ 14 mM, and 0.662 mL of potassium persulfate (0.45 mM) (Merck, Germany). The mixture was allowed in darkness for 16 hours at room temperature. Then, the solution was diluted with methanol up to an absorbance of 0,7 at 630 nm [
38].
For the DPPH assay, 20 µL of diluted extract was mixed with 180 µL of DPPH solution. The absorbance of the mixture was measured at 490 nm at 90-second intervals during 30 min. For the Trolox ((±)-6-hydroxy-2,5,7,8-tetramethyl-chroman-2-carboxylic acid) (Sigma-Aldrich, USA) equivalent antioxidant capacity assay (TEAC), 20 µL of Trolox (0 to 70 µM diluted in methanol) or diluted extract was mixed with 180 µL of ABTS
∙+ solution [
39]The mixture's absorbance was measured at 630 nm at 90-second intervals for 90 min. The percentage of inhibition was expressed as TEAC.
Total Phenolic Content (TPC) was measured using the Folin-Ciocalteau method. For this, 20 µL of diluted extract, 75 µL of sodium carbonate (10%) (Sigma Aldrich, USA), and 100 µL of the Folin-Ciocalteau reagent (1:9, v/v diluted in distilled water) (Loba Chemie PVT, India) were mixed [
40]. The mixture was allowed to stand in the dark for 2 hours, and its absorbance was read at 630 nm. TPC was expressed in gallic acid equivalent (GAE) using the calibration curve. For this, stock solutions of gallic acid (0-500 mg L
-1) were prepared in water. The equations employed were y= 0,0051x - 0,0577 (R
2 =0,9906) (TPC); y= 0,0014x + 0,1166 (R
2 =0,966) (DPPH); y= 0,0022x + 0,1113 (R
2 =0,9812) (ABTS).
All assays recorded the solutions' absorbance on a microplate reader (800TSUV-Bioteck, BMG LabTech®, Germany). All assays were conducted in triplicate.
Pasting properties
The pasting properties were performed on the optimized extruded and non-extruded flour blend. A rotational rheometer determined the pasting properties (AR1500ex, TA Instruments, USA). The flour (2,4 g) was added to distilled water (20 mL). The suspension samples were held at 25 °C for 3 min, heated from 25 °C to 90 °C at 10 °C/min, held at 90 °C for 5 min, cooled at a rate of 10 °C/ mi to 25 °C and finally held at 50 °C for 2 min. The pasting properties were determined by peak viscosity, breakdown, setback viscosity, final viscosity, and pasting temperature.
Discussion
There was no drastic change in pH because of extrusion on the blends, indicating that the extrusion treatment did not alter the hydrogen proportion of the flours tested. This may be related to their high content of acid compounds characteristic of coffee pulp, such as citric acid, malic acid, succinic acid, acetic acid, butanoic acid, and nonanoic acid [
45], that contribute hydrogen ions. In addition, natural fermentation processes can occur in coffee pulp, from collection to processing, when the temperature is not controlled. Coffee pulp has yeasts and bacteria that, through natural enzymes, produce a partial oxidation of the sugars present and can produce acid compounds, increasing the proportion of hydrogen ions.
Extrusion is a thermo-mechanical treatment that, due to the high temperatures, can generate degradation of some compounds and, in turn, release molecules that subsequently represent active sites to increase water availability. Coffee pulp flour had the highest water activity value among the seventeen mixtures non extruded. It could be explained because CPF has a high content of simple sugars such as fructose, glucose, mannose, and sucrose [
45], which are small molecules, so water is more likely to form active sites and be more available as free water. Extruded blends showed synergistic phenomena between CPF and RPF. It could be related with molecules liberated by thermo-mechanical process: simple sugars in CPF and starch molecules derived in RPF.
As mentioned above, during extrusion, the matrix undergoes shear forces that, combined with the high temperatures, can degrade thermosensitive compounds. Reduction in water and oil absorption capacity because extrusion might be attributed to the higher number of damaged molecules formed at a higher shear rate, reducing the availability of hydrophilic and hydrophobic groups to bind more water and oil molecules. Reducing these degraded compounds probably reduces the chances of water and oil absorption versus the untreated samples. This could be related to the disintegration of starch molecules that release amylose. Amylose is a molecule that favors water absorption in flours [
46]. Plantain rachis flour had the highest water and oil absorption capacity among the seventeen blends. Its high fiber composition could explain this. Fiber traps water molecules through the formation of hydrogen bridges and hydroxyl bonds. This flour also has a high mineral content (
Table 2), probably highly soluble in water. In fact, during the procurement of raw materials, high sensitivity to moisture was evidenced in PRF, highlighting that its storage required greater control. Its high oil absorption capacity indicates that its hydrophobic binding capacity was the highest. This may be associated with its high protein content. Proteins with amphiphilic behavior can form bonds at an oil-water interface, so the higher the protein content, the greater the possibility of simultaneous polar and apolar bonds.
The increase in the proportion of plantain rachis flour in the mixes promotes higher WAC and OAC values. This indicates that blends with a higher proportion of PRF would be potentially useful in bakery foods or meat products where flavor retention and palatability are required, and oil absorption is desirable. Likewise, blends with high WAC could be used to prepare sausages since these blends would allow more water to be added to the matrices.
On the other hand, water activity and water content exhibited similar behavior. The de-structuring of compounds and degradation of others possibly generates the release of fractions and small molecules like simple sugars that probably increase the active sites for binding water molecules. It should also be noted that the mixtures were previously conditioned to a moisture content of 18% prior to extrusion, which also influenced the overall increase in the final moisture content of the extruded mixtures. Nevertheless, all mixtures' moisture content and water activity values indicate stable and can be stored at room temperature without refrigeration/freezing.
The pre-cooking treatment did not change the protein content in the blends. Although proteins are considered thermosensitive molecules, the residence time in the extruder (less than 30 seconds) seems to have been relatively low, preventing the degradation of the proteins in the seventeen mixtures. This is a promising result since protein content is essential when formulating food for animals and humans. The extrusion conditions tested in this study maintain the protein content of the matrices. According to the Codex Alimentarius, for wheat flour, protein should be a minimum of 7% on a dry basis (CXS 152, 2023). Higher protein values are indicators of high-quality flour. The raw materials and the blends evaluated in this study are considered highly nutritional.
Extrusion reduces lipid content, which is related to the degradation of fatty acids at high temperatures. Generally, temperatures higher than 150°C generate alterations in fatty acids or oxidative damage [
47].
Crude fiber is typically resistant to high temperatures. A possible explanation for the reduction in the extruded blends could be mechanical shearing during extrusion cooking, which converts some crude fiber (insoluble) into soluble. A similar effect was reported in the extrusion of green banana flour [
44].
Figure 2 (b) shows coffee pulp and plantain rachis flour promoting higher crude fiber values. This phenomenon could be explained by the fact that both raw materials have high hemicelluloses and cellulose levels.
The increase in carbohydrate content may be because the released amylose can form complexes with proteins and fatty acids, affecting the quantification of all these components. It has been reported that extrusion increases the carbohydrate content in raw materials with a high presence of complex carbohydrates, as in the case of crude fiber. These polysaccharides exert against complete gelatinization of starch granules, which allows for a significant retention of starch polysaccharides [
48]. This coincides with the high crude fiber values determined for the blends (run 1, 3, 4, 5, and 10), where carbohydrate values were increased. These runs have high plantain rachis and coffee pulp contents, consisting of cellulose and hemicellulose.
This reduction in ash content may be related to the fact that some minerals can form bonds with proteins and fibers during extrusion and thus reduce their quantification. It has been reported that phytates (minerals) form insoluble complexes between phytate and other components [
49]. It should be noted that runs where ash content was reduced because extrusion blends showed high crude fiber content and had high plantain rachis and coffee pulp flour. Otherwise, the increase in ash content could be explained by increased phosphorous availability due to the action of extrusion on the phytate structure [
49].
The decrease of TPC in extruded flours can be explained by the damage to the molecular structure of phenolic compounds after the combination of high temperature with shear during extrusion precooking [
50]. The increase of TPC after extrusion could be attributed to the fact that despite the aggressive thermomechanical conditions, some matrices release TPC but fail to degrade and are, therefore, reactive during their quantification. TPC is derived in free and bonding fractions. These compounds released during extrusion are the free fraction of TPC [
51]. In green banana flour, an increase and a decrease in TPC after extrusion have been reported [
44].
An increase in DPPH and ABTS values is associated with releasing reactive free phenolic compounds in each measurement. This is also associated with the extrusion conditions of the study, where the residence time inside the extruder was relatively low, allowing these increases. Although extrusion promotes the release of thermally stable phenolic compounds, it should be noted that not all these compounds are highly stable, and therefore, some are not reactive when measured by DPPH and ABTS [
52]. This is the reason why a reduction in antioxidant activity values is noted in some extruded blends. For example, catechins, like anthocyanins, are susceptible to thermal degradation [
53], while flavonols, such as quercetin, are stable [
54]. Another reason for the reduction in antioxidant activity is the formation of polymerized compounds associated with high temperature and shear. This could lead to lower chemical reactivity and extraction efficiency [
55].
Plantain residues are characterized by being rich in starch. Starch is a polysaccharide that has gelling properties in the presence of water and high temperatures. Reduction in pasting temperature because of extrusion could be because the starch in the plantain residue samples could suffer degradation because of cooking by extrusion [
44], releasing amylose and amylopectin, which would facilitate the early formation of the gel in the extruded samples. This means that less temperature and time are required to form the paste. The sample with the highest pasting temperature was CPF, probably related to the null starch composition compared to the flours of the plantain residues. This means that more energy is required for paste formation. The pasting behavior of coffee pulp could be related to the pectin composition reported in 21% [
56]. Pectin is a polysaccharide that can form gels but needs high temperatures. The temperature values of the rejected plantain flour were like those reported for plantain flour [
57]. In contrast, these values have not been reported for plantain rachis and coffee pulp flours. Reduction in viscosity because of extrusion indicates starch degradation occurred due to high shear forces of extrusion, thus decreasing the viscosity. The coffee flour sample showed no change in its maximum viscosity because of extrusion. The plantain rachis flour showed the highest maximum viscosity, exceeding the rejected plantain flour. This flour could be considered promising for use as a thickener.
The breakdown viscosity is an indicator of the gel's instability. Non-extruded plantain rachis flour showed high gel instability, suggesting a high swelling capacity of the granules but low binding forces between them. This can be corroborated by the result of water absorption capacity, where the plantain rachis flour (run 3) showed the highest value (
Table 1). Despite high peak viscosity, PRF-NE showed lower stability in coking because it had the highest breakdown. From this, it can be inferred that the granules and the bonding forces between them are very fragile, so they are easily destroyed. Therefore, the viscosity of the suspension is reduced over time.
Although the optimal blend's viscosity was higher, it remained stable, while the extruded mix decreased over time. This could be explained by the fact that the starch degradation in the mixture's components due to shearing can release amylose and promote the instability of paste during cooking.
The setback is related to rearranging the amylose/amylopectin molecules of the starches in the flours, a phenomenon called retrogradation. The fact that the thermo-mechanical treatment degrades the starch granules means that the proportion of granules decreases and, consequently, the reorganization of their components during retrogradation or setback. The highest setback values were evident for rachis and rejected plantain flours with and without extrusion, possibly because they are the raw materials with the highest starch content.
The reduction in cooking time could be explained by the effect of the shear of extrusion breaks some starch granules in the samples, and therefore, both the energy and time required for paste formation are lower. The time of pasting is related to the ease of cooking the flour. Since the energy demand is lower to achieve gelatinization, this time should be less than 5 min, which is the estimated cooking time of other flour sources such as wheat. Accordingly, all tested extruded and non-extruded flour can be recommended for industrial use because of their low gel formation time.
According to the results evidenced in the mixtures, extrusion is recommended as a precooking treatment since the protein content did not change, and the antioxidant and pasting properties of the mixtures were enhanced. However, a more detailed analysis is needed to understand the behavior of specific components such as minerals, identified phenolic compounds, and anti-nutrients. It would also be important to know the effect of extrusion on the biodigestibility of macronutrients.