Skip to main content
ARS Home » Plains Area » Fargo, North Dakota » Edward T. Schafer Agricultural Research Center » Cereal Crops Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #313441
Title: Physicochemical changes in nontraditional pasta during cooking

Author
item DE LA PENA, ELENA - North Dakota State University
item Ohm, Jae-Bom
item SIMSEK, SENAY - North Dakota State University
item MANTHEY, FRANK - North Dakota State University

Submitted to: Cereal Chemistry
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 6/5/2015
Publication Date: 11/20/2015
Publication URL: http://handle.nal.usda.gov/10113/61722
Citation: de la Pena, E., Ohm, J.-B., Simsek, S., Manthey, F.A. 2015. Physicochemical changes in nontraditional pasta during cooking. Cereal Chemistry. 92(6):578-587.

Interpretive Summary: Whole wheat flour and flaxseed flour are two excellent fortification ingredients because of their well-documented benefits to human health. Pasta fortification with the non-traditional ingredients has been investigated with the purpose of offering healthier alternatives to consumers. Spaghetti samples were made from traditional and non-traditional formulations including semolina 100%, whole wheat flour 100%, semolina-whole wheat flour (49:51), semolina-flaxseed flour (90:10), whole wheat flour-flaxseed flour (90:10), and semolina-whole wheat flour-flaxseed flour (39:51:10). The flour mixes and spaghetti samples cooked for 0, 2, 4, 10, and 18 min were analyzed for cooking quality and biochemical components, including total starch, starch damage, and protein content and composition. Cooking quality was determined as cooking loss, weight, and firmness of cooked spaghetti. As cooking time progressed, total starch content decreased up to 5.7 percent units, and starch damage increased up to 11.7 percent units in cooked spaghetti. Solubility of protein in spaghetti also decreased for all six formulations as cooking progressed. Changes in biochemical components of non-traditional spaghetti during cooking were reflected in the quality of the cooked product. The changes in the starch damage level, and total starch content were associated with the cooking loss, weight, and firmness values of spaghetti samples recorded during cooking. Specific protein fractions appeared to influence cooking quality. Among protein fractions, high levels of protein fraction called glutenin polymers and low levels of the albumin and globulin fractions were identified to have association with low cooking loss and weight, and high firmness for the cooked non-traditional spaghetti. This research provides novel information on influence of biochemical components on cooking quality of nontraditional pasta. This information will help formulate flour mixes for non-traditional pasta products that have good cooking quality as well as high nutritional property.

Technical Abstract: Changes in biochemical components of non-traditional spaghetti during cooking were reflected in the quality of the cooked product. Spaghetti samples were made from traditional and non-traditional formulations including semolina 100%, whole wheat flour 100%, semolina-whole wheat flour (49:51), semolina-flaxseed flour (90:10), whole wheat flour-flaxseed flour (90:10), and semolina-whole wheat flour-flaxseed flour (39:51:10). The flour mixes and spaghetti samples cooked for 0, 2, 4, 10, and 18 min were analyzed for cooking quality and biochemical components including total starch, starch damage, and protein quantity and composition. Spaghetti cooking quality was determined as cooking loss, weight, and firmness of cooked spaghetti. As cooking time progressed, total starch content decreased up to 5.7 percent units, and starch damage increased up to 11.7 percent units in cooked spaghetti. Solubility of protein in spaghetti decreased significantly for all six formulations as cooking progressed. Changes in the starch damage level and total starch content were associated with pasting viscosity, cooking loss, weight, and firmness values of cooked spaghetti recorded during the cooking. Among protein fractions analyzed by size exclusion HPLC, high levels of glutenin polymers and low levels of the albumin and globulin fractions correlated significantly (P<0.05) with low cooking losses and cooked weight, and high cooked firmness indicating the involvement of these proteins in the cooking quality of non-traditional spaghetti.