LAUSR

Brazilian pine seeds (pinhao) are gluten‐free products derived from Araucaria angustifolia. The commercialization of these seeds is essentially associated with a low level of industrialization. In this context, extrusion cooking is a potential alternative for preparing extrudates of pinhaoas a food product, which can be easily digested and is ready for human consumption. Brazilian pine seeds flour was processed in a single‐screw extruder following a central composite rotatable design. Three factors (independent parameters) were considered: moisture content (14 to 22 g/100 g), screw speed (100 to 250 rpm), and temperature in the 3rd heating zone (120 to 200 °C). The structural characteristics, in vitrodigestibility and sensory acceptance were also evaluated. The resistant starch contents is almost reduced to zero after extrusion cooking while the slowly digestible starch content is increased. An increase in moisture positively affected the hardness and the luminosity (L*), although it negatively affected the volumetric expansion index, crispness, and color parameters (a*, b*, and ΔE). The experimental conditions of this study allowed the production of expanded extrudates from Brazilian pine seeds with good expansion, texture properties, and acceptance qualities. Thus, extrusion cooking was found to be a potential method for the industrialization of Brazilian pine seeds as a food product. Brazilian pine seeds are starchy raw materials and they are gluten free. However, despite offering these properties they are still under‐exploited in terms of their industrialization. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of extrusion cooking on the in vitrodigestibility and the structural and sensory attributes of food products based on this raw material. The results also contribute to demonstrating the potential for applying the extrusion cooking of Brazilian pine seeds to the development of ready‐to‐eat foods.