The Effect of Cooking Water Composition on Textural and Cooking Properties of Spaghetti

The effect of cooking water on both textural and cooking properties of spaghetti was investigated for spaghetti samples, which differ in protein content. The samples were analysed after cooking in deionised, laboratory tap water, deionised water with 2.5% salt and deionised water with 5.0% salt. Brands A, B, and C were usual durum wheat spaghetti and brand D was spaghetti enriched with bran. Regardless of the cooking water used, brand D had higher hardness and lower adhesiveness than other spaghetti samples and required longer cooking time to achieve optimum cooking. It was found that samples cooked deionised water had lower hardness and adhesiveness values as compared to samples cooked in salty water. It can be concluded that a certain amount of salt in the cooking water improves textural characteristics of cooked pasta.     

Synthesis and properties of corn zein/montmorillonite nanocomposite films

The objectives of this study were to apply fabrication techniques for the zein montmorillonite (MMT) nanocomposite films and characterize the obtained nanocomposite films. Zein MMT nanocomposite films were successfully produced from solvent casting and blown extrusion methods. The two methods could mix the zein MMT resulting in partially exfoliated nanocomposite structures according to X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy. The thermal resistant of the zein nanocomposite films fabricated from both methods improved as the MMT content increased. However, the mechanical and barrier properties showed non-linear relationships with the MMT loadings. The impact of MMT on properties of zein films strongly depended on the preparation techniques. This can be the good starting point to further study in depth insight of the controllable MMT rearrangement in zein films which will remarkably improve zein film properties for packaging applications.     

Effect of Oat Bran Fractions on Extrudates Made of Defatted Oats

Food and Bioprocess Technology - Oats are rich in dietary fibre (DF) especially in β-glucan which has several health-promoting effects. Oats are not commonly used in extruded snacks because...     

Rheological properties of rice pasta dough supplemented with proteins and gums

Rheological properties of rice pasta dough were studied by creep-recovery tests for various formulations containing guar gum (0.5%), casein (1%), and egg white (1%) mixtures. Non-gelatinized rice semolina (RS) was also mixed with gelatinized RS in different ratios (0, 25, 50, 75 and 100%) for each formulation. The effects of gelatinization, gum and proteins on pasta dough rheology were determined by a control stress rheometer (Haake Rheostress 1). From the creep-recovery data it was obvious that as the amount of gelatinized fraction increased there was an increase in the elasticity of the samples. However, the samples that were produced with 75 and 100% gelatinized RS in the formulation were not smooth in texture, but lumpy. From the creep-recovery and dynamic oscillation measurements it was found that guar gum and protein mixture can be used as a stabilizer together with 50% pre-gelatinized rice semolina. This will result in an improvement in dough properties during gluten free pasta processing from rice.     

Effect of dry fractionated hybrid protein ingredients on the structural,textural, thermal and sensory properties of gluten-free oat and faba pasta

Protein-enriched gluten-free pasta was prepared from oat starch-rich endosperm (SRE), which was substituted with different proportions of oat protein concentrate (OPC) and/or faba protein concentrate (FPC) fractions in order to obtain a similar protein content (18% and 35%). Accordingly, the health claims ‘source of protein’ and ‘high protein’ were achieved. Pasta with OPC and FPC had lower optimal cooking time (8 and 6.3 min), cooking loss (6% and 10.2% dm) and water absorption (152% and 147%) than control SRE pasta (9.3 min; 12.3% dm and 185%). Addition of protein concentrates produced an increase in hardness and chewiness of spaghetti. The glycaemic index of pasta was lowered by the addition of protein ingredients, the lowest value being achieved with FPC. In vitro protein digestibility of pasta increased up to 3.5% for OPC and up to 7.1% in case of FPC addition. The most protein-digestible pasta was that with FPC addition to reach 35% protein content.     

Influence of Particle Size Reduction on Structural and Mechanical Properties of Extruded Rye Bran

Rye bran is a high-fibre ingredient also containing starch and protein. The aim of this work was to investigate the effects of extrusion processing and bran particle size on the structural and mechanical properties of extruded rye bran. Native rye bran particle size of 750–1,250 μm was milled to produce feed material with three different average particle sizes (coarse, 440 μm; medium, 143 μm; fine, 28 μm). A co-rotating twin screw extruder was used for extrusion with various processing parameters. Extrusion processing did not have a significant (P?<?0.05) effect on soluble dietary fibre (SDF) content but the amount of insoluble dietary fibre (IDF) increased by 7.1–9.5 % in medium- and 11.3–12.3 % in fine-particle-sized rye bran extrudates as compared to the raw material prior to extrusion. Decreasing the particle size of rye bran to 28 μm resulted in lower amounts of IDF and total dietary fibre, but a higher amount of SDF after extrusion compared to coarse-particle-sized rye bran. Decreasing the particle size of rye bran to 28 μm gave more expanded (179–223 %), less hard (145–336 N), more crispy (2.7–7.2?×?10^?4) and porous (79.2–83.9 %) extrudates compared to the coarse-particle-sized rye bran extrudates, which were less expanded (151–176 %), harder (210–433 N), less crispy (0.5–2.8?×?10^?4) and less porous (64.4–65.1 %). Reduction of the particle size of rye bran significantly (P?<?0.05) increased the crispiness compared to the extrudates made of coarse-particle-sized rye bran. The results demonstrated that the structural and mechanical properties of rye bran extrudates can be improved without starch addition by reducing the particle size of bran.     

Modification of ITO surface using aromatic small molecules with carboxylic acid groups for OLED applications

4-[(3-Methylphenyl)(phenyl)amino]benzoic acid (MPPBA) was synthesized in order to facilitate the hole-injection in Organic Light Emitting Diodes (OLED). MPPBA was applied to form self-assembled monolayer (SAM) on indium tin oxide (ITO) anode to align energy-level at the interface between organic semiconductor material (TPD) and inorganic anode (ITO) in OLED devices. The modified surface was characterized by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), atomic force microscopy (AFM) and Kelvin probe force microscopy (KPFM). KPFM was used to measure the surface potential and work function between the tip and the ITO surface modified by SAM technique using MPPBA. The OLED devices (ITO/MPPBA/TPD/Alq₃/Al) fabricated with SAM-modified ITO substrates showed lower turn-on voltages and enhanced diode current compare to the OLED devices fabricated with bare ITO substrates.     

Modelling of rheological characteristics of various spaghetti types

Spaghetti enriched with resistant starch was produced to increase the dietary fibre intake of consumers. In the product base it was compared to bran and control spaghetti regarding to viscoelastic properties. Viscoelastic properties were tested by relaxation and creep tests by using TA-XT2i texture analyser. The viscoelastic properties gave structural information. Relaxation and creep data were analysed by generalized Maxwell (two- and three-termed), Peleg & Normand, Burgers and Peleg models, respectively. For relaxation three-termed Maxwell and for creep behaviour Burgers model represented viscoelastic behaviour satisfactorily. In general, bran spaghetti was found to have the lowest elasticity. All the samples started to loose their elasticity as cooking time proceeded and it became easy to deform them. Instrumentally, spaghetti with resistant starch was found to be better than bran enriched spaghetti.