Quality classification of Italian wheat durum spaghetti by means of different spectrophometric techniques

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Wheat durum pasta (spaghetti in particular) can be considered as the most typical Italy's food product. Many small or craft pasta factories realize different quality product regarding the use of biological wheat and the application of mild (lower drying temperature) or traditional (bronze draw-plate) technologies, in competition with large industrial enterprises. The application of higher quality standards increases the producing cost and determines higher pasta prices. In order to setup a reliable easy-to-use methodology to distinguish different production technology approaches, spectrophotometric visible and near-infrared (VIS-Nir) techniques were applied on the intact pasta. Eighteen samples of commercial brand spaghetti classified in five different quality production factors (Full industrial - Teflon-drawn, high temperature-short time drying -; semolina from organic cultivations; bronze-drawn treatment; low temperature - long time drying; traditional high quality pasta - bronze-drawn and low temperature drying treatments-) were analyzed by three different spectrometric techniques: a VIS (400 - 700 nm) spectral imaging, a Nir (1000-1700 nm) spectral imaging - both of them acquiring reflected spectral images of spaghetti bundle - and a portable VIS-Nir system (400-800 nm), working with an interactance probe on single spaghetti string. Principal component analysis (PCA) and partial least square regressions (PLS) were performed on about 1500 spectral arrays, to test the ability of the systems to distinguish the different pasta products (commercial brands). Reflectance visible data presented highest percentage of correct classification: 98.6% total value, 100% for high quality spaghetti (bronze-drawn and/or low temperature drying). NIR reflectance and VIS-NIR interactance systems presented 85% and 70% of entire correct classification while for high quality pasta the percentages rise up to 75% and 83%