Pasta: Quality Testing Methods
A Marti, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milan, Italy
MG D’Egidio, Unità di ricerca per la Valorizzazione Qualitativa dei Cereali, Rome, Italy
MA Pagani, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milan, Italy
ã 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Topic Highlights
• The concept of pasta quality includes different aspects hav-
ing various origins (durum wheat characteristics, milling
and pasta-making conditions, and cooking procedures).
• Gluten proteins of durum wheat are unique in assuring
good pasta cooking performances.
• Both raw and cooked pasta characteristics are important for
pasta quality.
• The pasta cooking procedure is quite simple, but the eval-
uation of cooking behavior is very complex.
• Pasta cooking promotes two main phenomena, starch gela-
tinization and protein coagulation, each playing opposing
roles in the quality of pasta cooking.
• Presently, no objective method (chemical or instrumental
tests) can substitute by itself the sensory evaluation of pasta.
Learning Objectives
• Characteristics of raw and cooked pasta are strictly related
to semolina traits and pasta-making conditions.
• Water absorption during cooking promotes different and
opposite phenomena whose varying extents determine the
final quality of the product, both in terms of textural and
sensory characteristics.
• The tests presently proposed to evaluate pasta quality
mainly deal with examining of the textural properties of
the cooked product.
Introduction
Pasta is the most interesting product obtained from durum
wheat (Triticum durum). Although pasta is no doubt the Italian
food product par excellence, it is also a basic food for people
living in some countries of Southern Europe and is increasingly
appreciated outside of Europe. The reasons for this success are
multiple and include its low price, long shelf life, ease of use,
and adaptability to the most diverse eating habits. Despite
these social–economic aspects, consumer acceptance and
frequency of purchase are greatly influenced by the quality
of the product. The various aspects concerning pasta quality
along the value chain will be presented, focusing on dry pasta
and the most widespread methods used for testing product
quality before and after cooking.
The Concept of ‘Quality’ Related to Pasta Products
Quality is a term commonly used, but not easily definable, to
describe a number of features, including hygienic and sanitary,
Reference Module in Food Sciences http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-08-100596-5.00132-3
technological, nutritional, and sensory/textural characteristics, that
are often dependent on each other. This is valid for pasta as for
other food products, for which the final quality is linked to the
characteristics of the raw materials and processing conditions that
in the case of pasta include semolina milling, dough extrusion
under pressure or sheeting, drying, and cooking of the final prod-
uct. The cooking behavior is deemed the most important index of
pasta quality; however, consumers increasingly base their
choices considering not only its sensory and textural
characteristics – which they evaluate personally at the time of
consumption – but also other parameters, which they cannot
immediately detect and which can affect the overall quality of
the product (Table 1).
Hygienic and sanitary quality, in the pasta field, is a pre-
requisite that must be guaranteed since it is closely linked to
consumer health. It is generally related to a sound and unda-
maged harvest, free from sprout damage, disease, mold
infestations, and insect pests, all of which may be labeled as
defects that greatly influence product safety and end-use char-
acteristics. Kernels exhibiting sprout damage have high levels
of a-amylase, which negatively modify starch, promoting its
solubilization during cooking. Moreover, the presence of a-
amylase produces higher sugar levels, which, during high-
temperature (HT) drying, leads to increases in the Maillard
reaction extent with consequences for physical and nutritional
properties, as will be discussed later. The presence of sprouted
kernels is usually determined by means of the Falling Number
(FN) Method (AACC International Method 56-81.03; ICC
Standard 107/1) (AACC, 2011; ICC, 2011). The test measures
the viscosity changes promoted by the enzymatic hydrolysis of
the starch present in a slurry prepared under controlled condi-
tions. Generally, an FN value of 350 s or longer indicates low
enzyme activity and very sound wheat. As the amount of
enzyme activity increases, the FN decreases. Values below
200 s indicate high levels of a-amylase activity.
Among the most common alterations, Fusarium head blight
should be mentioned because of its strong impact on food
safety due to the potential presence of mycotoxins in infected
kernels. In wheat (common wheat or durum wheat), deoxyni-
valenol (DON) is one of the most frequently detected myco-
toxins. The debranning process before milling results in a
significant reduction of the DON concentration in durum
wheat kernels, improving both the sanitary quality and the
refining characteristics of semolina.
Technological quality determines the suitability of the raw
materials to a specific industrial process. Semolina from
durum wheat is recognized as the best raw material for dried
pasta production due to the properties of gluten proteins,
which are unique in assuring good pasta cooking. High ash
content, small particles of fiber, and black particles in the final
product are directly linked to the semolina yield during the
1
2 FOOD-QUALITY TESTING | Pasta: Quality Testing Methods

Table 1 Criteria used to assess pasta quality reducing sugars, as is the case for pasta, the interaction between
reducing sugars and amino groups of lysine results in a decrease
Step of the in the bioavailability of this essential amino acid.
chain Quality aspect Quality parameter
Sensory quality refers to consumer acceptability of the prod-
Grain and Hygienic and sanitary Grain soundness uct. Although cooking is strategic in determining quality, eval-
Semolina quality Grain safety uation starts at the time of purchase by visual evaluation of the
Microbial contamination dried product. Good quality dry pasta must have a uniform,
Grain Technological quality Visual appearance amber yellow color. It has been well documented that carot-
Weight of 1,000 kernels enoid pigments and lipoxygenase activity in the semolina
Total Defects make pasta products yellow. To prevent a darker color from
Vitreousness occurring, oxidation of these pigments by peroxidase has to be
Moisture content
controlled. All the main producers of pasta-making equipment
Protein quantity and quality
have dedicated special attention to the elimination of this
Non-durum contamination
Semolina Technological quality Ash content defect through the use of mixing and extrusion chambers
Speck count operating under vacuum to minimize oxidation of the carot-
Colour enoid or xanthophyll pigments. In addition, the vacuum pre-
Particle size distribution vents air bubble formation, responsible for an unsightly
Damaged starch appearance and physical brittleness in the dried product. The
Non-durum contamination absence of black or brown specks is a quality indicator, too. Brown
Protein quantity and quality specks refer to the presence of small particles of bran in sem-
Pasta Nutritional quality Semolina composition olina, whereas black ones appear in semolina when some
Bioactive compounds
tainted grains (i.e., attack of black point and smudge) or
Recipe and sauces
other materials elude the cleaning process. Consumers may
Glycemic Index
Heat-damage due to Maillard think that dark and brown specks are contaminants. White
reaction specks represent one of the most frequent defects of dried
Pasta Sensory quality Visual appearance semolina pasta, due to the presence of unhydrated particles
(yellow color, uniform during mixing, and are clearly noticeable in the finished prod-
appearance) uct. This defect not only worsens the aesthetic appearance of
Cooking behaviour the product but also is associated with a nonhomogenous
(cooking loss, water structure of the protein network structure, which makes the
absorption, pasta very fragile both in its dry state and during cooking. The
firmness, stickiness)
appearance of white specks can be reduced by using fine sem-
Flavor
olina (diameter of the particles < 300 mm), which have quicker
hydration kinetics and produce a homogeneous moistened
milling process and therefore are related to the extrinsic quality system (Dalbon et al., 1996).
of the raw material. Other parameters – such as protein content, The consumer’s final judgment on pasta quality will surely
gluten quality, color, particle size, and damaged starch – are be based on its behavior when cooked: Only after cooking in
mainly related to the intrinsic quality of durum wheat semolina. boiling water does pasta acquire a palatable structure, easily
Both extrinsic and intrinsic quality attributes affect the pasta- adaptable to the most varied tastes by adding seasonings.
making process and thus the quality of the end product. Cooked pasta must meet consumer criteria. In countries
Nutritional quality is mainly related to the chemical compo- where pasta is traditionally consumed, textural attributes
sition of raw materials and the presence of bioactive components. (firmness and elasticity and absence of stickiness) play a pri-
Most of the bioactive compounds – such as lignans and mary role in determining consumer acceptance, but other fac-
antioxidants – are concentrated in the bran layers and in partic- tors (good yellow color, appearance, and nutritional value) are
ular in the aleurone fraction of the kernel. It follows that the also considered (D’Egidio and Nardi, 1996).
amount of these bioactive components is a function of the
conditions used during the milling process. Moreover, pasta
can be combined in many different kinds of sauces – such as
protein-rich ingredients from animal origin – so as to suit every Measuring Pasta Quality
taste and to compensate for the deficiency of some essential
amino acids in wheat. The Mediterranean diet solved this prob- Over the years, several methods have been developed for mea-
lem by combining pasta with legumes. As regards the conditions suring pasta quality. These methods, however, consider only a
for the pasta-making process, the high structural compactness of limited number of quality characteristics, as described in the
the product (mainly related to the pressure extrusion step) previous section. In Table 2, we propose a criterion for the
influences not only its cooking performance but also its starch classification of methods used today for measuring the quality
digestibility, thus accounting for the low glycemic index (<60) of both dry and cooked pasta. Since most of the methods
of the cooked product despite its high-carbohydrate content. presented are strictly dependent on the type of format (long-
Drying at high temperatures (80–90
C and over) promotes shaped or short-shaped pasta), it is recommended to compare
extensive heat damage in dried pasta, mainly related to the samples that are uniform in shape and dimension in order to
Maillard reaction. In a system that contains both proteins and obtain reproducible results.
 FOOD-QUALITY TESTING | Pasta: Quality Testing Methods 3

Table 2 Parameters and approaches used for evaluating pasta and Pasqui, 1992). In addition, it is important to specify the
quality depth of spaghetti and the color of background when using the
color scales (Liu et al., 2013). In recent years, near-infrared
Product Quality parameter Approach
reflectance (NIR) and near-infrared transmittance (NIT) and,
Dry Color Visual inspection more recently, UV–Vis spectrophotometers have been used to
pasta Light reflectance measurement determine color as a useful parameter in assessing food quality.
Near-infrared reflectance (NIR) Surface characteristics are immediately perceived by sight,
measurement and it anticipates a specific tactile perception. In addition,
Near-infrared transmittance (NIT) roughness is relevant as it affects the ability to retain condi-
measurement ments. Recently, Marti et al. (2011) proposed the evaluation of
UV−vis measurement the surface texture of enriched pasta samples before and after
Surface Image analysis techniques
cooking by measuring the heterogeneity parameter using tech-
characteristics
niques of image analysis, in order to gain information on the
(heterogeneity)
Strength Three-point bending test degree of roughness and, consequently, on the product struc-
Cooked Cooking loss Gravimetric method ture. Samples with high surface heterogeneity also had lower
pasta Colorimetric (iodine absorption) resistance to fracture, thus indicating a looser internal structure
Total Organic Matter in the cooked that is probably one of the reasons for the irregular surface. The
water surface properties may also help to explain pasta cooking
Firmness Sensory analysis behavior: Products with high surface heterogeneity expose a
(the force necessary to penetrate greater area to water action during cooking and, consequently,
pasta with teeth) a high amount of material may be released from the pasta
Texture analyzer
surface and, consequently, into the cooking water. This phe-
(blade probe, Kramer shear cell,
nomenon is strictly controlled by the quantity and quality of
firmness/stickiness rig)
Stickiness Sensory analysis proteins and their ability to contrast starch leaching.
(the work necessary to overcome Dry pasta has to be elastic and strong enough to resist
the attractive forces between the breakage during cutting, packaging, handling, and shipping.
surface of pasta and the surface of When broken, pasta must make a dry sound and the fracture
other materials which come into must appear smooth and glassy with no air bubbles. Bending
contact with the food) tests have been utilized to evaluate the mechanical strength of
Texture analyzer dried pasta products since the 1930s. Today, three-point bend-
(firmness/stickiness rig) ing is the most common bending test used for measuring the
Total Organic Matter of the rinsing
resistance of pasta to breakage. In particular, the instrument
water
applied a continuously increasing force to a strand of dried
spaghetti until the break occurred. The test specimen should be
much longer than its thickness and width. Although the test
provides an indication of susceptibility of dried pasta to break-
1. Dry State
age, it does not relate directly to the textural characteristics of
Pasta color comes from a desirable yellow component and an cooked pasta.
undesirable brown and red component. The yellowness of
2. Cooked State
pasta is due to semolina pigments, while the red component
is the result of Maillard reactions. Pasta brightness (L) is an The evaluation of the quality of cooked pasta is made even
indicator of the overall attenuation of the light reflected by more complicated by variables related to modes of cooking.
spaghetti samples when illuminated by sunlight or overcast The most common variables include cooking time (‘al dente,’
daylight. Several analytic techniques have been developed optimal, established, or overcooked), pasta/water ratio (1:10,
over the years to evaluate color in semolina and pasta. 1:20, 1:25, and 1:50), and type of water (tap water, mineral
Among them, the main methods have involved visual compar- water, distilled, deionized, that can greatly change as far as salt
ison with standard references (AACC 14-22.01) (AACC, 2011), concentration and pH values are concerned). The cooking
chemical pigment extraction (AACC 14-50.01) (AACC, 2011), procedure should be standardized, since all these features
and light reflectance measurements. In the pasta sector, the greatly affect the results. According to the AACC International
most popular instruments for measuring color are based on Method 66-50.01 (AACC, 2011), pasta is cooked in boiling
the color space system L*, a*, b* as defined by the Commission natural water with no salt added, keeping the pasta/water ratio
Internationale de l’Eclairage (CIE). The success of these auto- at least equal to 1:10. Pasta is usually cooked at the optimal
matic techniques can be found in the rapidity and safety of the cooking time and the water is drained for 30 s. The optimal
procedure in addition to the good correlation found between cooking time is determined by the time required for the dry
the chemical extraction of pigments and the yellowness central core to disappear when gently squeezed between two
expressed by b*, determined by the reflectance measurements. pieces of clear plastic.
Difficulties in color evaluation can arise when short shapes are Pasta cooking promotes the absorption of large amounts of
considered because the pieces cannot be arranged to form a water (about 1.5–2 times the weight of dry pasta). The product
regular and continuous surface. In this regard, the grinding of assumes a palatable and pleasant consistency but, at the same
dry pasta to a prefixed particle size was proposed (Acquistucci time, maintains its physical integrity and high structural
4 FOOD-QUALITY TESTING | Pasta: Quality Testing Methods
compactness. Water absorption is a complex event promoted
by the exceptional capacity of protein and starch (from tem-
peratures of 50
C and higher) to solvate and hold water. It is
measured as the weight increase in pasta before and after
cooking and is expressed as a percentage of weight gained
with respect to the weight of uncooked pasta. While water
transfer proceeds from the outside to the inside of each piece
of pasta, a reverse transfer of material can take place from the
pasta to the cooking water. Cooking loss measures the amount
of solid material lost in the water during cooking. As an alter-
native to the gravimetric approach, Matsuo et al. (1992) pro-
posed a quicker method for estimating cooking loss by reacting
a clarified aliquot of cooking water with iodine and measuring
the absorbance at 650 nm, corresponding to the absorption
maximum for the amylose–iodine complex.
Water, which acts as a plasticizer and increases polymer
mobility, penetrates concentrically toward the center of the
pasta during cooking. Nuclear magnetic resonance imaging
(MRI) in combination with the measurement of spin–spin
relaxation time (T2) has been recently used to evaluate
water distribution and water mobility in dry pasta at vari-
ous cooking times (Bonomi et al., 2012). The high-
temperature dried products that scored best from a sensory
standpoint showed the highest crosswise gradient of water
content and water mobility. This suggested that slight
undercooking contributes to the ‘al dente’ sensation due to
the unsolvated core portion of the product, at least in high-
temperature dried products.
Besides the hydration extent of the solid matrix, the textural
properties of cooked pasta are closely related to the outcome of
two opposite and competitive phenomena, starch gelatini-
zation and protein coagulation, a trend that has been studied
by ultrastructural approaches using light and/or SEM and TEM
microscopy. Despite their important role in helping to under-
stand these phenomena, these techniques not only are time-
consuming, labor-intensive, and highly expensive but also
allow only a qualitative overview and no quantitative
evaluation (Resmini and Pagani, 1983).
At a macroscopic level, the degree of starch gelatinization
and protein coagulation affects the overall cooking quality of
the final product, whose textural properties can be defined as
follows (D’Egidio and Nardi, 1996):
• Firmness or hardness: the force necessary to penetrate pasta
with the teeth (at the first bite).
• Cohesiveness or consistency: the extent to which pasta can
be deformed before breaking.
• Elasticity or springiness or recovery: the rate at which a
piece of pasta returns to its initial state after a deforming
force is removed.
• Adhesiveness or stickiness: the work necessary to overcome
the attractive forces between the surface of the pasta and the
surface of other materials that come into contact with the
food (e.g., tongue, teeth, palate, and fingers).
• Chewiness: the time (or the energy) required to masticate a
sample at the rate of one chew per second in order to reduce
it to a state ready for swallowing; it is related to firmness,
cohesiveness, and elasticity.
• Bulkiness or clumpiness: the adhesion rate of cooked pasta
strands with each other; it is related to stickiness.
Sensory approaches are considered to be the most reliable
methods for assessing pasta quality. The International
Organization for Standardization (ISO) has developed a stan-
dard method (TC 34 SC4 7304) (ISO 7304, 1985) using
trained assessors for evaluating the firmness and surface con-
dition (stickiness) of cooked spaghetti. A series of reference
photographs are used to estimate the surface condition.
A routine standard method (ISO 7304.2) (ISO 7304-2, 2008)
was also developed for assessing the quality of cooked pasta
such as spaghetti and macaroni in terms of firmness and starch
release by comparison with reference samples. The general
appearance, degree of swelling, and stickiness are taken into
account for assessing the overall rating. Scores for firmness and
surface condition are assigned using nine-point rating scales. In
Italy, the quality of pasta cooked in water without salt is
assessed by using the scoring method proposed by D’Egidio
and Nardi (1996), for the evaluation of stickiness, bulkiness,
and firmness. Each parameter was scored on a 10–100 scale,
where 100 ¼ no stickiness and bulkiness and 100 ¼ very good
for firmness. An overall quality score is determined by calcu-
lating the mean of each of the three scores. An overall score
greater than 70 indicates good quality, while a score below 50
indicates poor quality pasta. Sensory evaluation is usually
carried out after a fixed cooking time (12–13 min) and in
overcooking (D’Egidio and Nardi, 1996).
A quantitative description of the events occurring at a mac-
romolecular level can be obtained by using instrumental tests
for texture analysis. The texture of cooked long-shaped pasta
(such as spaghetti and noodles) is evaluated in terms of max-
imum force achieved during the cutting cycle (peak force) and
work, represented by the area under the curve (AACC
International Approved Method 66-50.01; 2000). In order to
assess how much variation exists when the same samples are
tested, Sissons et al. (2008) compared the results of cooked
spaghetti firmness tested by two laboratories according to the
AACC standard method by using various load cells, number of
strands and their length, texture rig type, and test speed. The
study found close agreement among the methods for measur-
ing the texture of cooked spaghetti. However, even using the
same instrument to measure firmness (TA.XT2i), the authors
found differences for samples that fell between the extremes in
firmness, likely due to variations in the instrument settings,
cooking method, and sample presentation used by the two
laboratories. When a standard method was selected and
defined in detail, results from testing ten samples in both
laboratories improved the correspondence greatly. Sissons
et al. (2008) highlighted that the AACC method does not
specify in sufficient detail these conditions, which may account
for the differences. An interlaboratory study under the auspices
of AACC International is under way. This should help stan-
dardize data between laboratories.
Most of the studies on pasta texture have been carried out
on long-shaped pasta (such as spaghetti or noodles), while
very few tests have been proposed for the various pasta shapes
available on the market. Recently, Manthey and Dick (2012)
investigated the suitability of various texture probes (knife
probe, Ottawa cell, modified Ottawa cell, Kramer shear cell,
mini-Kramer shear cell, and rectangular compression probe)
for determining cooked pasta texture on various kinds of pasta
(lasagna, spaghetti, rotini, and macaroni). The study

highlighted the importance of measurement of multiple tex-
ture attributes, since consistency values do not by themselves
accurately represent all the differences in pasta texture. In
addition, results differ depending on the probe used; for exam-
ple, Kramer and mini-Kramer shear cells gave opposite results
compared with those of the pasta blade for macaroni.
The textural characteristics of cooked pasta can also be
evaluated by means of a compression test, even if this is not a
standard method. Seven strands of spaghetti are placed on a
specific support block and compressed with a rectangular
probe for a few seconds before taking the probe from the
sample. Two main parameters can be measured: (1) Young’s
modulus or modulus of elasticity, calculated from the stress
and strain in the initial linear domain of the curve, and (2)
adhesiveness, described as the work needed to pull the sample
apart and separate it from the compression plate and corre-
sponding to the area under the zero-force line.
Chemical methods are useful for evaluating surface charac-
teristics of cooked pasta. D’Egidio et al. (1993) had developed
a chemical method for the quantitative determination of the
total organic matter (TOM) rinsed from the surface of cooked
spaghetti that indicates the quantity of starch released from the
protein matrix of cooked pasta and subsequently adheres to
the product surface. Thanks to its significant correlation with
sensory and instrumental values of firmness, stickiness, and
resilience of cooked spaghetti, TOM values were proposed as
suitable indexes for predicting the sensory quality of pasta
(D’Egidio et al., 1993).
Exercises
Assignments for Revision and Extension
• What are the main criteria used to assess pasta quality?
• What are the main attributes that affect the quality of pasta?
• What are the main approaches used for evaluating the
quality of the uncooked pasta?
• What are the main approaches used for evaluating the
quality of the cooked pasta?
• What are the main strengths and weaknesses of the current
approaches?
Exercises for Readers to Explore the Topic Further
• Most of the tests proposed for the instrumental evaluation
of pasta texture focus on long-shaped pasta (spaghetti or
noodles). However, today’s consumers shop for a wide
range of pasta shapes, and for this reason, instrumental
methods for short-shaped pasta need to be developed;
What novel methods do you suggest?
FOOD-QUALITY TESTING | Pasta: Quality Testing Methods 5
• At the moment, there are no chemical or instrumental
methods able to satisfactorily measure several sensory
parameters at the same time. Consequently, sensory analy-
sis remains the most viable to jointly assess quality param-
eters. What approaches may help to overcome this
problem?
• There is a great interest in using sensor arrays for the iden-
tification of different volatile compounds, various odors,
and tastes in food products. The application of the electronic
nose (e-nose) and the electronic tongue (e-tongue) to pasta
could represent an attractive alternative to sensory tests
for quality control and process monitoring in pasta
industries. Investigate this issue and suggest methods for
implementation.
See also: The Cereal Grains: Durum Wheat, Overview (00024);
Wheat-Based Foods: Pasta (00123); Food-quality Testing:
Noodles, Testing for Quality (00131).
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