A survey of water‐extractable arabinopolymers in bread and durum wheat and the effect of water‐extractable arabinoxylan on durum dough rheology and spaghetti cooking quality

BACKGROUND: Information on the variation in water‐extractable arabinopolymers (WEAP) in durum wheat and their impact on pasta quality is limited. A survey of the content of WEAP in selected bread wheat varieties and durum wheat was conducted and the influence of water‐extractable arabinoxylans (WEAX) on dough and spaghetti quality was examined by fortifying low‐WEAP durum semolina with purified WEAX. RESULTS: Bread wheat typically possessed higher levels of WEAP than durum wheat, but the latter had a greater range. Purified WEAX was extracted from bread wheat cultivar Sunlin which possessed a high level of WEAP. The extract was used to fortify semolina (0.125–2% w/w) derived from durum wheat variety Tamaroi (low WEAP). Fortification caused a near linear increase in farinograph water absorption of approximately 12% over the range of addition, leading to dough weakening. Reduced cooked pasta stickiness was observed at all levels of WEAX addition. CONCLUSION: Increased WEAX content may be a means to improve pasta quality by reducing pasta stickiness. Durum wheat showed a wide range of WEAP contents, and this may well be exploited by developing cultivars with elevated WEAP levels. © 2008 Crown in the Right of the State of New South Wales and Society of Chemical Industry.