Effect of carboxymethylcellulose and pregelatinized corn starch on the quality of amaranthus spaghetti

Abstract

Six gluten-free spaghetti typologies in base of amaranthus flour were produced, using two types of gluten substitutes, carboxymethylcellulose sodium salt (CMC) at three different percentages, 0.1% (LCMC), 0.2% (MCMC), 0.3% (HCMC) and pregelatinized corn starch (PCS) at three different percentages, 5% (LPCS), 7% (MPCS), 9% (HPCS). The amaranthus spaghetti were compared with a control spaghetti sample of durum semolina (CTRL). We ran some tests on the samples to determine breakage susceptibility by water sorption kinetics, cooking loss, the cooking resistance by fitting the values of elastic modulus, instrumental stickiness and sensory analysis. The spaghetti obtained from amaranthus flour containing CMC and PCS showed breakage susceptibility higher than that of the CTRL, while they showed a cooking resistance equal or lower with respect to the CTRL. The spaghetti with CMC had a lower stickiness, equal values of cooking loss and similar values of sensory attributes with respect to that of the CTRL. For the spaghetti containing PCS, the cooking loss values were higher and the sensorial attributes were lower with respect to that of the CTRL and of the spaghetti containing CMC. Moreover, the stickiness values for the spaghetti samples with PCS increased as the pregelatinized corn starch concentration increased. From the result it emerged that spaghetti samples containing CMC presented better performances especially in cooking with respect to the spaghetti samples with PCS.

Introduction

In the last years, grains different from durum wheat have been used (as partial or total substitutes) in production of particular kinds of “pasta” with healthy characteristics or directed to specific targets, such as people following a coeliac diet (Kasarda, 2001). The amount of high protein flour (soybean, pea, lupine, bean, chickpea) that can be added to or substituted for semolina represents a compromise between nutritional improvement of the pasta and achievement of satisfactory sensory and functional properties (Marconi & Carcea, 2001). Amaranth, quinoa, buckwheat can be used to make gluten-free products containing proteins with high biological value. Today, amaranth is undergoing a renaissance due to its potential as a nutrition food (Carlsson, 1996). Tosi, Ciappini, and Masciarelli (1996) described the use of amaranth in gluten-free products. Gambus, Gambus, and Sabat (2002), replaced corn starch with amaranthus flour to enhance the protein and fibre contents of gluten-free bread. Lately, there has been significant study on gluten-free products involving a diverse approach which has included the use of starches, hydrocolloids, dairy products, gums and other non gluten proteins, prebiotics and combinations thereof, as alternative to gluten, to improve the structure, mouth feel, acceptability and shelf-life of gluten-free bakery products. Starches and hydrocolloids are widely used in the bakery industry to impart texture and appearance properties to cereal-based foods (Anon, 2002). Gan, Rafael, Cato, and Small (2001) found that HPMC (hydroxypropilmethycellulose) and CMC as gluten substitutes gave good bread characteristics. Acs, Kovacs, and Matuz (1996) studied the use of different binding agents (xanthan, guar gum, locust bean gum and trangant) as a substitute for gluten in gluten-free bread formulations based on corn starch. They found that binding agents resulted in a highly significant increase in loaf volume and loosening of the crumb structure. The highest quality gluten-free bread contained xanthan gum at levels of 1–3%.

High quality pasta has a good cooking resistance and firmness, does not release an excessive amount of organic matter into the cooking water and does not show stickiness (Manser, 1981). During cooking, a weak or discontinuous protein matrix permits exudates to escape during starch granule gelatinisation into the cooking water and the pasta becomes sticky (Dexter, Matsuo, & MacGregor, 1985). Moreover, the pasta quality is related to a low breakage susceptibility to dry conditions. To obtain pasta of good quality from raw materials it is often necessary to modify the traditional production process (Kent & Evers, 1994). In particular, balanced formulations and adequate technological production processes have to be adopted to counteract any changes in the rheological properties caused by the incorporation of these new ingredients (Marconi & Carcea, 2001). The addition of an aliquot of pregelatinized flour or starch that promotes, during the drying cycle, the formation of a starch network capable of improving pasta cooking quality is another way to modify or improve the rheological properties of a formulation (Resmini & Pagani, 1983). Huang, Knight, and Goad (2001) produced non-gluten pasta with characteristics most similar to wheat-based pasta containing higher levels of modified starch, xanthan gum and locust bean gum. Sukhcharn, Charanjit, Amrinder, and Dharmesh (2004) studied the effect of sweet potato flour, soy flour, water, arabic gum and CMC on quality responses (sensory, solids loss and hardness) of pasta product by the system known as response surface methodology. They found that the pasta with maximum sensory score (33.8), minimum solids loss and maximum texture hardness were identified at 674 g kg⁻¹ sweet potato flour, 195 g kg⁻¹ water, 110 g kg⁻¹ soy flour, 10.6 g kg⁻¹ arabic gum and 10.1 g kg⁻¹ CMC.

The aim of this work was to compare the effects of two gluten substitutes, carboxymethylcellulose sodium salt and pregelatinized corn starch, both used in three percentages, on the quality of the gluten free spaghetti in base of amaranthus flour.