Volume 4 • Issue 3• 1000211 J Food Process Technol ISSN:2157-7110 JFPT, an open access journal Open Access Research Article Food Processing & Technology Pérez et al., J Food Process Technol 2013, 4:3 http://dx.doi.org/10.4172/2157-7110.1000211 Keywords: Legumes; Roots; Tubers; Bananas; Food development; Special diets Introduction Tropical legumes, roots, tubers, and musaceous are plants yielding grains, roots, tubers, rhizomes, and fruit cluster that have been sub utilized. In spite, that all of them are potential sources for flours, and starches that have not yet been exploited; only a few of them are utilized. It is due that they are highly perishable, difficult to store and to handle, and transporting to distant markets. In the tropical areas, where the temperature and humidity are naturally high, losses of all types of these items are prevalent today and have been estimated to vary depending of the type of tuber from 5-40%. It has been estimated an average of 30% loss during storage [1]. In order to minimize its losses, they must to be converted from perishable to non-perishable through food processing operations. Consequently, converting these crops into flours may be important process that would contribute to minimizing its losses, and also to allow commercial food industry to store them throughout the year. Incidentally, some of them (root, tubers and unripe bananas) have low protein contents. In contrast, the legumes are characterized for to have high contents of good biological quality protein. erefore they both combined could produce a composite flours highly nutritive that can be applied to develop foods. Despite the high occurrence of these floury crops in the tropical area, the flour and starch production in the world is confined to few crops. Certainly, wheat, non-tropical plant, is the unique source for flours. Currently it is recognized the close relationship between health and nutrition; reason why food and products are being developed with modifications in its composition by reduction, elimination or addition of nutrients with the purpose of contributing to avoid deficiencies and prevent excesses injurious to health [2]. Even, it has been defined the expressions food for special diets: as diet produced or specially prepared to meet particular needs feeding, which are determined by physical or physiological conditions, and/or diseases or specific disorders of the individual. e composition of these foods must be fundamentally different from the composition of ordinary foods of a similar nature *Corresponding author: Elevina Perez, Universidad Central de Venezuela, Facultad de Ciencias, Instituto de Ciencia y Tecnología de Alimentos, Calle Suapure, Colinas de Bello Monte Caracas, Venezuela, Tel: +582129528579; Fax: +582127533881; E-mail: perezee@hotmail.com Received December 13, 2012; Accepted December 28, 2012; Published January 08, 2013 Citation: Pérez EE, Mahfoud A, Domínguez CL, Guzmán R (2013) Roots, Tubers, Grains and Bananas; Flours and Starches. Utilization in the Development of Foods for Conventional, Celiac and Phenylketonuric Consumers. J Food Process Technol 4: 211. doi:10.4172/2157-7110.1000211 Copyright: © 2013 Pérez EE, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Abstract Grains, roots, tubers, rhizomes, and unripe bananas are sources of flour and starches. However they are perishable. Consequently converting these crops into flours may be important process to produce new foods. The goals of the research were the production of flours, starches, and low-phenylalanine protein hydrolyzate, from these crops at pilot level and its application in the preparation of bread, baked good, pastas, mix to prepare drinks and baby foods; all of them to be used for conventional, celiac and phenylketonuric consumers. Each of the foods was prepared following the conventional recipes, with modifications, until they have reached the optimal acceptance by a panel of subjective judges. The ingredients and the food products were analyzed in its proximate composition, sensorial, chemical, physicochemical, and functional properties by using the official methodologies. It was verified the feasibility to produce these new foods using non-traditional sources. Roots, Tubers, Grains and Bananas; Flours and Starches. Utilization in the Development of Foods for Conventional, Celiac and Phenylketonuric Consumers Elevina E Pérez 1 *, Antonieta Mahfoud 2 , Carmen L Domínguez 2 and Romel Guzmán 1 1 Universidad Central de Venezuela, Facultad de Ciencias, Instituto de Ciencia y Tecnología de Alimentos, Calle Suapure, Colinas de Bello Monte Caracas, Venezuela 2 Fundación Instituto de Estudios Avanzados (IDEA), Hoyo de la Puerta Caracas, Venezuela [2]. Moreover, the relationship between food and health is connected to the concept of food security; since, not only it is referred to its biological utilization, and the stock, but also its accessibility. Alongside with the development of traditional foods, it must be developed foods for special diet, but it is not happening in the tropical undeveloped countries. Consumers with special diet have to acquired your foods from importation, and for hence they are expensive, scarce and nontraditional. Examples of them are celiac disease, phenylketonurie disease; which are diseases, which respond successfully to a modification of the diet. If foods that contain gluten are completely removed from diet in celiac consumers, and the intake of phenylalanine (phe) is restricted in phenylketonuric, in order to prevent the abnormal accumulation of the phe in blood, the body metabolic balance in the individual is re-established. ese two pathologies have in common, that its early diagnosis and treatments, prevents important and irreversible sequels. By foregoing, the objectives of the study were to prepare flours and starches from tropical staples foods, supplementing them with low-phe ingredients; such as the low-phe hidrolizate elaborated from legumes, commercial soy protein concentrate or another commercial staple food with high protein content. en with these ingredients develop products such as; breads, pasta, drinks, baby food and mixes to prepare pancake, cake and pizza. All of these food products must meet the needs of the traditional consumer and those with special regimes.