BIOACTIVE COMPOUNDS AND ANTIOXIDANT CAPACITY OF PAN BREAD ENRICHED WITH GERMINATED CAÑIHUA AND BLACK MASHUA

Andean crops are promising sources of bioactive compounds for the development of bakery products with enhanced antioxidant potential. This study evaluated the effects of partially replacing wheat flour (WF) with germinated cañihua flour (GCF; Chenopodium pallidicaule) and black mashua flour (BMF; Tropaeolum tuberosum) on the content of bioactive compounds and the antioxidant capacity of pan bread. A constrained simplex-centroid mixture design was employed, comprising 13 flour formulations (80 - 90% WF, 5 - 15% GCF, and 5 - 15% BMF) and a control containing 100% WF. Total soluble phenolic compounds (TSPC), flavonoids, and proanthocyanidins were quantified using spectrophotometric methods, while antioxidant capacity was determined using the ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) and oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC) assays. Specific volume and crumb firmness were also evaluated to assess the balance between functional and technological properties. Compared with the wheat control, the enriched breads exhibited higher TSPC (102.88 -201.46 vs. 31.80 mg gallic acid equivalents/100 g), flavonoid content (41.53 - 105.35 vs. 26.82 mg quercetin equivalents/100 g), and proanthocyanidin content (30.76 - 88.59 vs. 24.90 mg catechin equivalents/100 g). FRAP values ranged from 660.48 to 1423.88, compared with 123.75 µmol Trolox equivalents/100 g in the control, whereas ORAC values ranged from 1135.49 to 1320.15, compared with 919.97 µmol Trolox equivalents/100 g. The highest TSPC, proanthocyanidin content, and FRAP values were obtained with 80% WF, 15% BMF, and 5% GCF, whereas the highest ORAC value was observed with 85% WF, 10% BMF, and 5% GCF. Desirability-based optimization identified two optimal formulations according to different optimization priorities: PO1 (85.6% WF, 6.6% BMF, and 7.8% GCF; desirability = 0.691), which balanced antioxidant and technological properties, and PO2 (88.3% WF, 5.4% BMF, and 6.3% GCF; desirability = 0.819), which prioritized technological quality. PO1 showed higher predicted TSPC (152.88 vs. 119.16 mg gallic acid equivalents/100 g), FRAP (895.21 vs. 751.91 µmol Trolox equivalents/100 g), and ORAC (1257.35 vs. 1208.91 µmol Trolox equivalents/100 g) than PO2, whereas PO2 exhibited a higher predicted specific volume (3.58 vs. 3.10 cm³/g). These findings demonstrate that formulation priorities influence the balance between functional and technological properties, although the desirability values are not directly comparable because different response weights were applied. Overall, the partial replacement of wheat flour with germinated cañihua and black mashua flours increased the measured bioactive compound contents and in vitro antioxidant capacity of pan bread. This work was funded by the National Council for Science, Technology and Technological Innovation (CONCYTEC) and the National Program for Scientific Research and Advanced Studies (PROCIENCIA) under call E077-2023-01-BM “Scholarships for Doctoral Programs in Interinstitutional Alliances”, grant PE501091469-2024, and under call E033-2023-01-BM “Interinstitutional Alliances for Doctoral Programs”, grant PE501084298-2023-PROCIENCIA-BM. Thanks to CNPq for the research scholarship provided to M.S. (312759/2025-8).