Changing of food habits and increased preference for healthy meals, along with the growth of breakfast industry has increased the size of ready-made“ and instant porridge market in Serbia. Porridges dominantly marketed are those based on oats. However, there is a growing interest of local producers to use other cereals for porridge production. Therefore, this work was aimed to estimate the porridge-making ability of spelt wheat (Triticum aestivum spp. spelta) in comparison to that of oats. The studied porridges are instant products, based on extruded spelt or oat flour. The proximate composition, hydration properties (water absorption index-WAI and water solubility index-WSI), consistency and thermal properties were determined with the aim to compare the characteristics of the porridges.
In general, the spelt-based porridge had more total and insoluble fibреs, proteins, minerals and less available carbohydrates in comparison to the oat porridge. The spelt porridge may be eligible to bear the nutritional claim „high-fibre“ which is advantageous for the market viability of the product. Both porridges had >20% of damaged starch due to high initial content in the flours and extrusion processing of flours, though spelt-based extrudate and porridge were significantly higher in this parameter. Oat-based extrudate and porridge were higher in resistant starch content. The consistency was similar between the porridges, although spelt tended to form slightly firmer and cohesive porridge. Spelt porridge had better hydration properties (higher WAI) which are a featured attribute for this kind of product, similarly to higher consistency values.
Spelt wheat, in its extruded form, is a suitable ingredient for porridge production.