Effect of durum wheat oil on the chemical features of the Italian Focaccia

Focaccia is an Italian garnished flat bread, widely consumed in the entire country. Focaccia looks similar to pizza, but its formulation typically requires a higher amount of oil. The quality of oil used is fundamental , considering the negative effects exerted by the products of lipid degradation. In this context, the objective was to improve the nutritional characteristics of focaccia by using an innovative oil extracted from durum wheat milling by-products. This kind of oil has been little exploited so far, despite its high nutritional and economic potential. Focaccia with: i) durum wheat oil (DWO); ii) sunflower oil (SO); iii) olive oil (OO), were prepared and compared. Durum wheat oil was richer in PUFAs (60.5 ± 0.06%), nevertheless, the DWO focaccia was more resistant to oxidation than SO, with a higher induction time and a lower content of polar compounds arising from oxidation, which are considered “nutritionally suspect”. These results were due to the different content of antioxidants, principally tocotrienols (1020 in DWO and 70.2 mg/kg in SO). However, OO focaccia was the most resistant to oxidation, due to the abundance of MUFAs (72.5 ± 0.11 %) and phenols (81.5 ± 3.15 mg GAE/kg) in the starting oil. The determination of volatile compounds mirrored these observations, especially in terms of markers of lipid oxidation, such as hexanal and nonanal. Durum wheat oil could therefore represent a feasible alternative to the oils currently used in the bakery sector, improving the sustainability of the durum wheat chain, in a circular perspective.