FUNCTIONAL FLOUR PRODUCTS: DEVELOPMENT TRENDS AND DIGITAL MODELING OPPORTUNITIES FOR TECHNOLOGICAL PROCESSES

The objective of the study is to summarize the development trends in functional flour products and determine the potential of digital modeling of technological processes in recipe design, property prediction, and product quality management. The objects of the study are functional bakery and flour confectionery products, plant-based ingredients, composite mixtures, their processing processes, and digital tools for food product design. The research methods include an analytical review and systematization of literature sources on functional flour products, plant-based powders, specialized nutrition, computer modeling of recipes, digital twins, and neural network quality assessment. The analysis allowed us to identify three groups of functional flour products: bakery products with plant powders and dietary fiber; flour confectionery products with modified carbohydrate, lipid, and vitamin-mineral profile; and specialized products for dietary, therapeutic, and prophylactic purposes. Five development directions have been identified: use of plant-based raw materials and processing by-products; increasing the content of dietary fiber, vitamins, minerals, and polyunsaturated fatty acids; maintaining the familiar organoleptic characteristics. Economic justification of recipes; transition to digital design. Three tools have been identified for the digitalization of technological processes: computer modeling of recipe composition, digital twins of production batches, and artificial neural networks for integrated quality assessment. Computer modeling allows for setting constraints on energy value, nutrient composition, and process parameters, while the digital twin links the recipe, actual batch data, and quality control. It is concluded that the combination of plant-based ingredients and digital methods reduces the scope of in-kind experiments, improves the reproducibility of recipe solutions, and forms the basis for developing functional flour products with predictable properties.