Puffier, more nutritious snack foods

ADDING carrot pomace to cornstarch used in making snack foods can increase the puffiness of the end-product, according to food scientists Girish Ganjyal and graduate students at the Washington State University.

Pomace is the leftover from juicing vegetables. In this case, researchers experimented with three concentrations of carrot pomace – 5, 10 and 15 percent carrot pomace.

“That’s great – we didn't know what we would find," said Mr Ganjyal, a WSU/University of Idaho School of Food Science assistant professor and WSU Extension food processing specialist. "We hope to continue researching and see just how the starch and fiber are interacting at the molecular level. Hopefully, we can include even more pomace in the recipe."

He said, “At 5 percent, it was great," he said. "But at the higher concentrations, the end product got more dense and didn’t puff nearly as much." Furthermore, the flavor of snack foods with added pomace will remain the same, he said.

Crunchy puffy snacks can be made puffier and more nutritious with added pomace (Photo: Kai Siong Wong I Dreamstime)

Nutritious byproduct

Besides adding fiber and some nutrients to foods, the research creates a use for a wasted byproduct. Pomace is a leftover after industrial juicing of fruits and vegetables including apples, cherries, blueberries, grapes and carrots.

Mr Ganjyal said he talked with juice industry professionals and farmers who want to do something with the residue. With juice production increasing, there is more pomace byproduct.

"If we can find a real use for this, and add something positive to snack foods without affecting the taste or texture, it's a real win-win," he said.  

The results are published as "Carrot pomace enhances the expansion and nutritional quality of corn starch extrudates," in the the journal LWT-Food Science and Technology.

From the article “"Reducing waste while improving snack nutrition” by Scott Weybright, Washington State University.