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New Insights Into the Role of Gluten on Durum Pasta Quality Using Reconstitution Method

¹NSW Department of Primary Industries, Tamworth Agricultural Institute, RMB 944 Tamworth, NSW 2340, Australia. ²Value Added Wheat CRC Locked Bag 1345, North Ryde, NSW 1670, Australia. ³Corresponding author. Phone: 61 267 631 119. Fax: 61 267 631 222. E-mail: mike.sissons@agric.nsw.gov.au ⁴CSIRO Plant Industry, GPO Box 1600, Canberra ACT 2600, Australia.

The effects of varying the gluten composition at constant protein, protein content at constant composition, and glutenin-to-gliadin (glu/gli) ratio on durum semolina rheological properties and the quality of the spaghetti derived from these doughs was investigated using the reconstitution method. Reconstituted flours were built up from a common durum starch and water-soluble fraction but with varying gluten types from a range of wheats at both 12 and 9% total protein. A 10-g mixograph and microextensigraph properties were affected by the source of the gluten, which was related to glutenin composition and polymeric molecular weight distribution. Cooked pasta firmness was highly correlated to mixograph development time (MDDT). Furthermore, varying the protein content (9–20%) showed an increase in mixograph peak resistance (PR) with no effect on extensigraph Rmax. Pasta firmness increased and stickiness decreased with increasing protein content. In another experiment, the glutenin and gliadin fractions isolated from durum wheat were added to the respective base semolina to investigate the effect of varying the glu/gli ratio by 1.3–1.6 fold. Increasing the ratio increased MDDT but had no effect on PR and resistance breakdown. Variable effects were obtained for spaghetti firmness. The information obtained should prove useful to durum breeders by providing further evidence for the importance of protein to pasta quality.