Características físico-químicas de bolos de chocolate veganos com substituição de clara de ovos por aquafaba

Abstract

With the rise in vegetarian dietary patterns and vegan lifestyles, the industry faces challenges in creating plant-based alternatives to replace animal ingredients to meet this demand. One such substitute is aquafaba, a by-product of chickpeas, which is a legume rich in proteins and carbohydrates, mainly globulin, albumin and saponin fractions, which during cooking are transferred by leaching into the water, giving it an emulsifying and foaming capacity, which allows it to be used as a substitute for egg white in culinary preparations. This study aimed to prepare a vegan cake using aquafaba as an egg white substitute. In the cakes produced, the proximal composition of protein, moisture, lipids, ash, carbohydrates by difference, color measurement, water activity were carried out and the results were compared to a control cake, which contained egg white. The visual aspect of the aquafaba foam was very similar to that of egg white, but it left something to be desired in terms of structure and stability, because even though it incorporated air and formed foam, the structure did not remain complete after the addition of the other ingredients, unlike snow white, which maintained its volume and incorporated air. The vegan cake had less protein, a crucial element for foam formation, which may explain the instability of the foam. Although the physicochemical properties differed between the two formulations, aquafaba is an alternative for substitution in cakes as it has a similar structure and function to egg white, although adjustments are still needed in terms of foam stability and a sensory analysis needs to be carried out.