Pasta color and viscoelasticity: Revisiting the role of particle size, ash, and protein content

Background and objectivesAn original experimental approach allowing an unbiased estimate of the impact of three semolina factors (particle size distribution, protein, and ash contents) on durum wheat pasta quality was developed.FindingsBy different combinations of the milling fractions from five durum wheat batches displaying contrasted protein levels, 18 blends were obtained covering six levels of protein content (9.2%–13.5%), four levels of ash content (0.66%–1.15%), and three modes of particle size distributions (fine semolina or coarse semolina and mixes of flour and coarse semolina) with distinct median diameter and SPAN. Results showed that dry pasta color was mainly affected by the ash content increase. In addition, dry pasta brightness was also negatively impacted by the protein content. Cooked pasta viscoelastic index was only found positively impacted by semolina protein content but in a nonlinear dose–response relationship and clearly depends on the cooking time.ConclusionsPasta color can be optimized by managing the milling process to limit the presence of grain outer layers content in semolina, but pasta brightness and cooked pasta viscoelastic index were found specifically related to the protein content.Significance and noveltyThe sample set allowed testing the effect of one semolina trait keeping the two other constant and highlighted that beyond a protein content around 12%, no significant gain in pasta viscoelasticity was observed even in case of overcooking