Bread containing Brassica oleracea var. acephala as a source of copper and manganese

<p>The aim of this study was to add dehydrated kale (<em>Brassica oleracea </em>var. <em>acephala</em>) to the formulation of a loaf of bread at concentrations of 2.5% and 5%, and submit the products obtained to physico-chemical, sensory and chemical composition analysis. We also designed a control loaf of bread for comparison purposes. The addition of dehydrated kale increased the pH and acidity of the bread; however, it did not affect the specific volume, which ranged from 4.57 to 4.08 cm3/ g, and the water activity, which was 0.95, making it possible to obtain products with satisfactory technological characteristics. In the sensory test, the kale bread showed good acceptance, with mean scores ranging from 6.5 to 8.4, and outstanding softness. The color of the bread with 5% kale was the only attribute that obtained a mean score below the one obtained for the control bread. The addition of dehydrated kale promoted greater increase in the fiber (133-281%), calcium (176-297%), phosphorus (201-232%), potassium (208-318%) and magnesium (181-300%) content of the bread; however, only for copper (140-160%) and manganese (76-118%), were increments sufficient to make the products good sources of these minerals. As regards the level of oxalic acid, the concentrations obtained were far below the level considered as risky to health. Therefore, the addition of dehydrated kale to the formulation of bread resulted in products with good sensory acceptance, increased their nutritional value, and offered consumers a new choice of bread.</p>