Bioaccessibility of phenolic compounds, antioxidant activity, and consumer acceptability of heat-treated quinoa cookies

Quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa Willd) stands out because of its high nutritional value and bioactive compounds, which can benefit human health. Heat treatments can improve the content of these compounds; however, few reports have investigated the behavior of phenolic compounds in quinoa when subjected to in vitro gastrointestinal digestion. This work aimed to evaluate the effect of heat treatments on: (1) Total phenols and flavonoids, individual phenolics, and antioxidant activity of quinoa flour subjected to two different heat processes (boiling and microwaving); (2) Bioaccessibility of total phenols, flavonoids, individual phenolics, and the intestinal recovery of antioxidant activity of cookies made using heat-treated quinoa flours and (3) Consumer opinions of cookies made using heat-treated quinoa flours. The results demonstrated that cookies formulated with microwave-treated quinoa flour had greater bioaccessibility of phenols (647%), flavonoids (98%), ferulic acid (144%), rutin (65%), quercetin (85%), and kaempferol (97%) than cookies made with raw or boiled quinoa. Cookies made with heat-treated quinoa showed better consumer acceptability than those made with uncooked quinoa. Therefore, the microwave treatment of quinoa may be a viable alternative for producing healthier foods.