DOI: 10.1002/jsfa.71231 ISSN: 0022-5142
Effects of different additions of germinated lentil flour on the nutritional, structural and
in vitro
digestibility of rice cakes
Huicong Xu, Zhijuan Zhang, Bin Dai, Jiayu Yin, Zunaira Basharat, Haihui Zhang, Kai Hu, Dongyan Chen, Yuqing Duan Abstract
BACKGROUND
Rice cake is a popular staple food, but it has a simple nutritional composition and high glycemic response. Germinated lentil flour (
GLF
) is rich in protein and bioactive polyphenols, and exhibits great potential in improving the nutritional and functional properties of cereal‐based foods. This study investigated the effects of
GLF
additions (0, 50, 100, 150 and 200 g kg
−1
) on the physicochemical, textural,
in vitro
digestibility and structural properties of rice cakes, aiming to provide a technical basis for developing low‐glycemic functional rice cake products.
RESULTS
GLF
supplementation significantly increased the protein and polyphenol contents and antioxidant activity, as well as protein digestibility, in the rice cakes. The interaction between
GLF
protein and polyphenols strengthened the dough rheological properties and improved network structure. Appropriate
GLF
addition reduced the hardness, cohesiveness and chewiness of rice cakes without affecting springiness. Structural analyses demonstrated the increase of crystallinity and the proportion of disordered coils within the protein secondary structure. Meanwhile,
GLF
incorporation raised resistant starch (
RS
) content, leading to decreased hydrolysis index and predicted glycemic index values. Electronic nose analysis confirmed that
GLF
additions enhanced volatile flavor compounds, particularly aldehydes and ketones.
CONCLUSION
GLF
modification effectively optimized the nutritional composition, textural characteristics and
in vitro
hypoglycemic potential of rice cakes. These findings provide a theoretical framework for developing functional staple foods with enhanced nutritional and sensory attributes. © 2026 Society of Chemical Industry.