Cooking properties and heat damage of dried pasta as influenced by raw material characteristics and processing conditions.

Dried pasta represents a primary food in the diet of many populations who mainly perceive its quality in terms of cooking performances. Indeed, this and other aspects of pasta quality arise from several technological parameters starting from the usage of durum wheat semolina as raw material. In this paper, the chemical and physical characteristics of semolina directly related to dried pasta quality are discussed, taking into account the biochemical phenomena involving semolina components and occurring during the whole pasta-making chain. The quality of pasta is also discussed with relation to drying conditions which account for both the ultrastructural changes in protein and starch organization and the occurrence of unnatural molecules arising from the Maillard reaction. The information provided here suggests that a comprehensive evaluation of pasta quality should include heat-damage induced by processing conditions.