Pasta quality as impacted by the type of flour and starch and the level of egg addition

Silkworm pupae derivatives as source of high value protein intended for pasta fortification

Silkworm (Bombyx mori) pupae are recognized as novel nutritionally valuable food. Their use in pasta-making was considered with the intention of repositioning spaghetti shaped pasta supplemented with silkworm derivatives (10%_db ) as a valuable product in sustainable diets besides upcycling a side stream from the silk industry. The principal objective of this study was to assess the cooking quality (i.e., imbibition kinetics, cooking loss) and texture of pasta supplemented with defatted silkworm powder or with its aqueous protein extract, which enabled to reduce the content of indigestible components supplying a similar protein intake. Pasta was produced on lab-scale, dried, and tested for chemical composition, mechanical properties before and during cooking, cooking behavior in terms of hydration kinetics, starch gelatinization, and cooking quality indexes. The structural roles on pasta protein network played by silkworm powder and proteins extract were investigated. The former behaves as a structural thickener while the second provides a steric hindrance effect with consequent different cooking performances. With regards to the fortified pasta perceived quality, a high level in total color difference (ΔE) was measured (ΔE > 6). However, after fortification agents' addition, pasta color became closer to that of the whole wheat pasta already known by consumers. Structure fragility increased. The energy at break of the "extract pasta" was about one-third of the control (0.849 N*mm). Silkworm powder addition led to the highest pasta optimal cooking time (376 s) and the slowest imbibition rate (0.0001 s^-1 ). After fortification, pasta had an almost doubled cooking loss than control pasta (2.97 ± 0.18 g/100g_db ). PRACTICAL APPLICATION: Silkworm pupae flour can be easily applied for pasta fortification in order to increase the protein daily intake of people in an easy and practical way.

Analysis of Narrow-Leaf Lupin Proteins in Lupin-Enriched Pasta by Untargeted and Targeted Mass Spectrometry

The supplementation of different food items with grain legumes and, in particular, with lupin has been demonstrated to provide useful health benefits, especially in the area of cardiovascular disease prevention. In this work, label free quantitative untargeted and targeted approaches based on liquid chromatography−electrospray ionization−tandem mass spectrometry (LC−ESI−MS/MS) for investigating the protein profile of three pasta samples containing different percentages of narrow-leaf lupin flour were carried out. The untargeted method permitted the identification of the main acidic globulins (α-conglutin, β-conglutin, and δ-conglutin) and the comparison of their profile with raw lupin flour. The targeted method, based on High-performance liquid chromatography electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry HPLC-Chip-Multiple Reaction Monitoring (MRM) mode, allowed the quantification of γ-conglutin, the main hypoglycemic component of lupin protein: its concentration was around 2.25 mg/g in sample A, 2.16 mg/g in sample D, and 0.57 mg/g in sample F.

Effects of incorporating nonmodified sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas) flour on wheat pasta functional characteristics

The effects of substituting wheat flour using fractions of blanched or nonblanched sweet potato flour on produced pasta functional characteristics were investigated. The use of sweet potato flour to replace fractions of wheat flour, regardless of blanching treatment, resulted in significant (p < .05) increase in water holding capacity (WHC), cooked pasta water uptake and solid leaching out and freeze-thaw stability of produced pasta. For instance, treatment containing 40% of nonblanched sweet potato flour and held at 55C resulted in 27% point increase in WHC compared to the control. Sweet potato flour was also contributed to the decrease in treatments pasting viscosities and in cooked pasta hardness. Cooked pasta hardness was significantly (p < .05) decreased from 255.6 N to 187.5, and 152.6 N when using 15% blanched and 40% nonblanched sweet potato flour replacements, respectively. Flow behavior index of wheat flour treatments containing fractions of sweet potato flour were fitted in a shear thinning model. Quality indices of pasta made using fractions of sweet potato were equivalent to or sometimes superior to that of the control sample. Results indicated the possible enhancement of pasta nutritional quality including firmness, cooking loss, and water uptake without impairing consumer acceptability.

PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS

The use of sweet potato flour in pasta would enhance the nutritional and physicochemical properties of developed pasta and pasta products. Furthermore, since sweet potato is not cultivated most of the year; sweet potato flour pasta would be better utilized in food processing and is expected to enhance sweet potato consumption year around.