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Manufacture of Pasta Products

Chapter · December 2012

DOI: 10.1016/B978-1-891127-65-6.50014-3

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 An introduction to Pasta Processing and final product characteristics

Pasta is apparently a very simple food, one ingredient: semolina of durum wheat and
one “reactant” water.
The ingredient has in the native state the two main constituents that are proteins
and starch.
The “reactant” together with mechanical and thermal energy, is necessary to modify
their structure to obtain the final configuration. In the picture A, a dried spaghetti
section, are clearly recognizable the starch granules and the protein net formed.

Starch

Pic.A

Just to make a comparison, the pasta final state is comparable with the Reinforced
Concrete, in which the proteins are the Iron Rods and the Starch the cement filling.
And as per the construction material, the structural resistance of the pasta (after
cooking in this case) is a function of raw materials and process.
There are many works in literature on the interaction between raw material and pasta
characteristics, and even if it is hard to summarize all the findings, we could say that
quality and quantity of proteins ( especially of Glutenin and Gliadins) are the main
parameters influencing the final quality.
Regarding the current industrial process, we can divide it in two main steps:

This document and all his content is property of Barilla G. e R. Fratelli S.p.A. All the informations are intended to be a Know-How property of 1
Barilla. They are confidential and are intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom it is addressed. If you have received a copy
or a part of it you cannot distribute it without the permission of the owner.
 Step 1
• Water + Semolina + Mechanical Energy ---> Extruded Pasta
Here below we can see a scheme of this step

Product Flow Press

SEMOLINA FROM
HANDLING

SCALE

DOSING SCREW

HIGH SPEED MIXER

WATER FEEDING
MAIN MIXER

AIR LOCK

VACUUM MIXER

EXTRUSION
SCREW DIE

Semolina, whose particles have a variable diameter between 100-500 microns, is

weighed with a scale and a defined percentage of water is added. Mixers assure
homogeneity in water concentration, and the necessary residence time to let
water diffuse evenly up to the center of the granules.
The total mixing time is around 10-15 minutes with classical mixers; this value is
correlated with the diffusion time of water in the semolina and depends of course
on the raw material granulation distribution.
The wetted semolina is then subject to the extrusion stage, here specific weight
passes from 0,75 to 1.35 Kg/dm^3 and the main part of the mechanical energy is
transferred to the forming dough.

This document and all his content is property of Barilla G. e R. Fratelli S.p.A. All the informations are intended to be a Know-How property of 2
Barilla. They are confidential and are intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom it is addressed. If you have received a copy
or a part of it you cannot distribute it without the permission of the owner.
 Variation of specific weigth along the screw
1,4
1,3
1,2
1,1
1
0,9 Specific weight traditional press
0,8
0,7
0,6
0 0,5 1 1,5 2 2,5 3
Length along the screw in meters

For a typical spaghetti line the Specific Mechanical Energy given should be in the
range of 40-55 Kj/kg with a good mechanical efficiency (at least over 70%).
In case these parameters are not respected, we could have respectively, a lack of
work, or an excess of thermal energy (with a superheating) given to the dough.
The protein network as a result can be damaged as it is visible in picture B.
Here it is clear as the proteins (coloured in green with a reactant) are
concentrated in the middle of the cooked spaghetti section. The lack of protein in
the external part is causing an increased starch release (see the damage
structure) and an uneven cooking. Picture C for comparison is for well processed
cooked spaghetti

B C

Some of the characteristics of the extruded product are determined also by dies.
These are the equipments used to shape the forms. There are two materials
currently used: BrAl which is an alloy of Bronze and Aluminium, and Teflon.
The BrAl (commonly identified as Bronze) give to the surface of the product, the
classical whitish and rough aspect, while the Teflon guarantees a smooth and
brilliant yellow colour.
This document and all his content is property of Barilla G. e R. Fratelli S.p.A. All the informations are intended to be a Know-How property of 3
Barilla. They are confidential and are intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom it is addressed. If you have received a copy
or a part of it you cannot distribute it without the permission of the owner.
 Pic.D

Here below we can see the surface of dry product produced by the different
materials:

Pic.E

As a result, during cooking the penetration of water is easier for the increased
surface in the “bronze” product and under the bite it is possible to feel a more
uniform consistency compared with the Teflon product. This “sensation” can be
also measured using a dynamometer comparing the cutting force to cut 30% of the
section and the maximum cutting force.

This document and all his content is property of Barilla G. e R. Fratelli S.p.A. All the informations are intended to be a Know-How property of 4
Barilla. They are confidential and are intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom it is addressed. If you have received a copy
or a part of it you cannot distribute it without the permission of the owner.
The difference of these values is an indication of the homogeneity of the cooked
samples.
Comparing samples that differ only for the material of the inserts that constitute
the dies, “ Bronze” product has a reduced disuniformity compared with Teflon.

After shaping the product, the step 1 is completed, pasta has a moistness of around
30% (w.b.) and it is necessary now to dry it to bring its value fewer than 12.5%. In
the past the drying was a way to reduce the water activity and to store the product
for a long time at shelf condition. With the evolution of the industrial process this
stage can be optimized in order to improve some characteristics of the pasta as, for
instance, the consistency. Let’s have now a deeper look in the following part of the
production process:

Step 2
• Extruded Pasta + Thermal Energy + Ventilation ---> Dried Pasta
Here below there is a section of modern spaghetti dryer

Inlet dry air Inlet dry air

Exhausted air
The spaghetti strands (in yellow in the drawing), hooked at a support named Sticks,
are hit by an air flow with controlled conditions of temperature and relative
humidity. These parameters of air are acquired using probes that, with an
automatic system regulates both thermal energy and dry air inlet to maintain the
desired conditions.
The length of entire process is variable depending on the desired type of product.
The majority of pasta currently produced, is made using high temperature
production line and the drying time for Spaghetti is around 6 hours.

This document and all his content is property of Barilla G. e R. Fratelli S.p.A. All the informations are intended to be a Know-How property of 5
Barilla. They are confidential and are intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom it is addressed. If you have received a copy
or a part of it you cannot distribute it without the permission of the owner.
 Looking deeply to what happen in the dryers, we can recognize a coupled process
of Thermal and Mass flow.
Here below there is a simple scheme that helps understanding

Q3 Q1
Q4 Air flow
N1
Q2 N2

Q1 is the Thermal Energy flow given with forced Convection from hot air to Pasta
Q2 is the Thermal Energy flow that Diffuses from the surface to the centre of
Spaghetti
Q3 is the (negative) Thermal Energy flow that leave Pasta due to the evaporation
(that is an endothermic process)
Q4 is the (negative) Thermal Energy flow used by Spaghetti structure to create,
internally, extra bonds (especially S-S disolfur connections)
N1 is the Mass flow of water that Diffuses from the centre to the surface of
Pasta
N2 is the Mass flow of water that for Convection leave Spaghetti and passes to
Air
If we want to write the state Equations, simplifying where it is possible we reach
this expressions:
Ntot = D* dXpe / dr
Qtot = S*a*(Ta - Tp) - DHv * D* dXpe / dr
Where
Xpe is the mass concentration of water along the radius of Spaghetti sections.
D is the diffusivity coefficient (which is a function of the Temperature)
S is the surface of Spaghetti
a is the convection coefficient
Ta and Tp respectively temperature of the air and of the product
Hv is water heat of evaporation.
r is the radius of the spaghetti section

This document and all his content is property of Barilla G. e R. Fratelli S.p.A. All the informations are intended to be a Know-How property of 6
Barilla. They are confidential and are intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom it is addressed. If you have received a copy
or a part of it you cannot distribute it without the permission of the owner.
 It is clear that the equations cannot be solved algebraically but only numerically
and that they are coupled. This means that both of them needs to be solved in the
time, in fact in the mass flow we have diffusivity that depends on the
temperature, in the heat flow there is the term of water evaporation that
depends on the water concentration.
It is although evident that the limitant stage of drying is the diffusion of water
inside pasta.
The resolution of the equations, even numerically is complicated from the fact the
matrix in which this diffusion is happening is changing during the process, so
rheologically the material needs to be characterized step by step.

In doing this researchers identified with high temperature drying two principal
steps:
A. Plastic state that lasts from the beginning of the drying (around 30% w.b. of
moistness) till about 16-18% (w.b.) of water content
B. Elastic state
Characterization of the properties of this stages is critical in order to have the
info to model the process.

Here below there is a simulation of a an industrial drying cycle using a numerical

solution of the above written equations. Measured moistness (Blue line) of the
product is compared to the calculated one (Purple line).
110
Up%
100
90
-30
80
70 Up*3
60
-20
50 T°prod
40
30 Ta
20 -10
10 Tb
0
0 15 30 45 60 75 90 105 120 135 150 165 180 195 210 225 240 255 270 285 300 315 330 345 360 375 Calculat
ed Up

Up to now we could have good pilot plant simulations, but this findings are not yet
applicable to industrial production lines.
The principal problem of the scale up, in fact, is that the model works quite well with
a single spaghetti immersed in a constant and uniform air flow.

This document and all his content is property of Barilla G. e R. Fratelli S.p.A. All the informations are intended to be a Know-How property of 7
Barilla. They are confidential and are intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom it is addressed. If you have received a copy
or a part of it you cannot distribute it without the permission of the owner.
Unfortunately these are not the conditions of spaghetti strands in real production
lines and a corrective constant, needs to be measured and applied to the model for
each type of Dryers and spaghetti configuration on the sticks.

Anyway studying the drying cycle, performance of cooked pasta was measured using a
dynamometer that simulate human teeth. The task was to search for a correlation
between the thermal energy given and the pasta consistency (through the Cutting
Force needed).
In literature, in fact, many works are available that confirm how the “al dente”
characteristics improve using high temperature of drying. This change is surely
correlated with structural changes that happen when certain temperature are
overcame.
For example it is clear as Diffusivity of water changes going over 70° (pasta
Temperature) witnessing important matrix modification (see Picture D)

Pic.E
D (cm^2*s-1)

H2O AVG % (d.b.)

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Barilla. They are confidential and are intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom it is addressed. If you have received a copy
or a part of it you cannot distribute it without the permission of the owner.
So starting from a base drying cycle some modifications were applied to give to
spaghetti different quantity of energy both in different stage of drying (plastic and
elastic phase) and different amount along all the processing.
An interesting findings was described in the following plot:

Consistency Vs Energy

15,0

14,5

14,0

13,5
Cutting Force = 0,0005*Energy - 0,2638
Max Cutting Force (N)

2
R = 0,9526
13,0

12,5

12,0

11,5

11,0

10,5

10,0
20000 21000 22000 23000 24000 25000 26000 27000 28000 29000
Specific Energy per Minute

The consistency (cutting force measured with a dynamometer) in Newton is

KCal
proportional to the total specific energy measured in  min
Kg
The Correlation is quite good with a R^2=0.95

This document and all his content is property of Barilla G. e R. Fratelli S.p.A. All the informations are intended to be a Know-How property of 9
Barilla. They are confidential and are intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom it is addressed. If you have received a copy
or a part of it you cannot distribute it without the permission of the owner.
 With the same dynamometer is possible to measure the Spaghetti Adhesivity, the
force necessary to lift up a probe of fixed surface from a spaghetti layer.
This can be considered as an approximation of how much starch is present on Pasta
Surface. Of course higher is the Adhesivity measured in Newton, higher is the starch
on the pasta. In this case the correlation is lower due also to the difficulty of the
measurement.
Adhesivity versus Specific Energy

0,6

Adhesivity = -3E-05*Energy + 1,1183

R2 = 0,665
0,5

0,4
Adhesivity (N)

0,3

0,2

0,1

0
20000 21000 22000 23000 24000 25000 26000 27000 28000 29000
Specific Energy per Minute

Finishing we can say that in the last 100 years pasta processing passed from an
artisan activity made using natural tools as men work and wind, to an industrial
business highly automated.
Anyway more of the steps above described are far to be well studied and modelled
and making good pasta is still a form of art…

This document and all his content is property of Barilla G. e R. Fratelli S.p.A. All the informations are intended to be a Know-How property of 10
Barilla. They are confidential and are intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom it is addressed. If you have received a copy
or a part of it you cannot distribute it without the permission of the owner.

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