The interest of the food industry in products developed from flours added with protein is not due only to their nutritional characteristics, but also due to their functional and rheological properties, which define their commercial applications. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of operational parameters of the extrusion process on the paste properties of cassava flour and casein blends. The process of extrusion followed the central composed rotational design with three factors: protein content (2.5 to 9.5%), moisture (14.5 to 19.5%), and extrusion temperature (65 to 135 ºC). Before and after extrusion, the blends were analyzed on a Rapid Visco Analyser using the following parameters: initial viscosity, peak of viscosity, breakdown, final viscosity, and retrogradation tendency. Before extrusion, the product showed an increase in viscosity characteristics with an increase in the concentration of protein until to the central point (6%). In higher levels of protein there was a reduction in the pasting properties values. After extrusion, it was observed that the amount of protein was the variable that produced the greatest effect on the paste properties followed by the moisture of the blends.
cassava; casein; viscosity; extrusion
