Physicochemical Changes in Nontraditional Pasta During Cooking

Abstract

Physicochemical changes in the components of nontraditional spaghetti during cooking were reflected in the quality of the cooked product. Spaghetti formulations used were 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). Spaghetti quality was determined as cooking loss, cooked weight, and cooked firmness. Physicochemical analyses included total starch, starch damage, pasting properties, and protein quality and quantity of the flour mixes and spaghetti cooked for 0, 2, 4, 10, and 18 min. As cooking time progressed, total starch content decreased up to 5.7% units, starch damage increased up to 11.7% units, and both pasting parameters and protein solubility decreased significantly in all six formulations. Changes in the starch damage level, total starch content, and pasting properties of spaghetti correlated significantly (P < 0.05) with the cooking loss, cooked weight, and cooked firmness values recorded for the spaghetti. High levels of glutenin polymers and low levels of the albumin and globulin fractions were associated with low cooking losses and cooked weight and with high cooked firmness, indicating the involvement of these proteins in the cooked quality of nontraditional spaghetti.