Elaboration of Bread Replacing Partially Wheat Flour with Pitahaya (Stenocereus queretaroensis) and Chia (Salvia hispanica L) Flours

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Keywords: Pitahaya (Stenocereus queretaroensis), chia (Salvia Hispanica L), microbiological analysis, additives. Bread is one of our favourite foods in Ecuador, and this one made of wheat flour. The purpose of this work was to make bread with Pitahaya flour (Stenocereus queretaroensis) and Chia (Salvia hispanica L) partially replacing the wheat flour. Three different formulas with equal amounts of replacement were used (15%, 25 %, 30%). In terms of the sensory characteristics assessed, bread with 25 per cent replacement had greater acceptability: taste, smell, colour and texture. Today, the production of wheat-based bakery products enriched with global protein additives is becoming increasingly widespread with growing consideration for the quality and flavour of foods. Whey proteins are the highest available standard proteins that have high digestibility and a full profile of amino acids. Whey proteins are also suggested because of their positive effects on immune development and risk prevention of heart disease and cancer incidence. Being a tropical crop, Pitayas have the opportunity to become a plant for sale to foreign markets. Originating in the Antilles, the word pitaya meant scaly fruit. The ancient Mexicans named the fruit Capitella, or thick worm, in reference to the stems' size. Many populations of Stenocereus have made important contributions to diets of Indian tribes inhabiting tropical semiarid lands on coastal plains in the Gulf of Mexico and the Pacific Ocean, as well as subtropical semiarid inland regions of Mexico since pre-Hispanic period