Quality evaluation of chestnut flour addition on fresh pasta

The present study investigated the effect of different levels of chestnut flour in formulations of soft wheat fresh pasta. A physicochemical characterization of flours, uncooked and cooked pasta was carried out. Chestnut flour showed higher water absorption properties than soft wheat flour or mix of them. Frozen water of pasta decreased for higher level of chestnut substitution, being instead water activity constant. During cooking chestnut enriched pasta showed higher solid loss for increasing levels of substitution, in relation with the reduction of hardness and deformability. Increasing percentages of chestnut flour were also reflected in a progressive darkening of the final products. Moreover, the increased antioxidant activity observed on enriched pasta, even after cooking, may be related to the high level of antioxidant compounds of chestnut flour. Proton molecular dynamics was also influenced by the formulation, as resulted by the increased protons mobility observed for higher levels of chestnut flour replacement.