Abstract

Puffed quinoa can be used as ready-to-eat breakfast food or as an ingredient in snack formulations. In this study, puffed quinoa products with and without starch–chitosan coating were developed by gun, extrusion and microwave puffing at different process conditions (pressure, power, moisture content and energy consumption). Size, bulk density, colour, expansion index, water absorption and solubility, microstructure, mechanical and thermal properties, chemical composition and in vitro digestibility of organic matter and proteins of popped quinoa were assessed. Optimal process conditions for gun puffing were maximum 1.31 MPa after 780 s, 500 r.p.m. and 180 s for extrusion puffing and 1200 W for 60 s applying microwave puffing at 18–20% moisture contents. Gun and extrusion puffing yielded high-quality popped quinoa with a biological availability of organic matter between 84–88% and 79–90% for proteins. Extrusion and gun puffing are the most promising processes to prepare quinoa snacks.