Utilization of Tomato Pomace Powder as a Functional Ingredient in Finger Millet Pasta: Implications on Cooking, Textural, Bioactive, Nutritional and Molecular Characteristics

The present study was designed to utilize tomato pomace powder (TPP) as a functional food ingredient in finger millet-based gluten-free pasta for nutritional quality enhancement and consumer acceptability of the pasta, as well as better technological utilization of food industry waste. The finger millet flour (FMF) was replaced by 0 to 20 % with TPP for pasta making. Results showed that the viscosity of the blends for pasta making decreased significantly (p<0.05) as the content of TPP progressed from 0 to 20%. The minimum cooking time of pasta decreased while gruel solid loss increased as the level of TPP in the blends increased. The color of the uncooked pasta was higher than the cooked pasta in terms of L* values. Hardness of pasta decreased from 70.81 to 53.49 N, while cohesiveness, gumminess, and chewiness of pasta increased up to 10% level of TPP supplementation, followed by a decrease. Pasta with 15% TPP was highly acceptable among the sensory panelists with an overall acceptability score of 8.15 in comparison to control pasta (7.40). Supplementation of TPP significantly enhances the nutrition (protein, dietary fiber, minerals, fatty acids, and amino acids) and bioactive potential (lycopene) of pasta. This study shows that tomato pomace has good potential for utilization in high-value-added products of finger millet-based gluten-free pasta. The bioactive-rich by-product of the tomato processing industry (reported to have high lycopene content- 42.2 mg/100g and dietary fibre-67.6%)can be effectively utilized for achieving the sustainability targets and ensuring more returns to the producers.