A multi-scale approach for pasta quality features assessment

Pasta industry has introduced in the market new pasta formulations to respond to consumers' nutritional/health needs. The resulting macromolecular, mesoscopic, and microscopic changes induced in pasta need to be evaluated. In this work, a multi-scale screening of physico-chemical properties was performed on commercial pasta formulations (wheat semolina, whole wheat semolina, veggie, gluten free). Pasta samples showed significantly (p ≤ 0.05) different properties: wheat semolina and whole flour samples had a more pronounced viscoelastic behaviour (Dynamic Mechanical Analysis), higher hardness (Texture Analysis) and higher mobility of the more rigid protons (1H Nuclear Magnetic Resonance); veggie pasta had the highest frozen water content and higher 1H T2 molecular mobility; gluten free pasta showed a larger rigid population (Population C). This study indicated the ability of a multi-scale approach in discriminating pastas' formulation. Besides physico-chemical properties, 1H NMR was particularly able to properly discriminate pastas’ formulations.