Cereal Chem. 70:122-126   |  VIEW ARTICLE

Cooked Pasta Texture: Comparison of Dynamic Viscoelastic Properties to Instrumental Assessment of Firmness.

N. M. Edwards, M. S. Izydorczyk, J. E. Dexter, and C. G. Biliaderis. Copyright 1993 by the American Association of Cereal Chemists, Inc. 

Extruded noodles were prepared from durum wheat semolina of variable protein content to provide a series of samples with a range of cooking quality. Firmness of cooked extruded noodles was measured using an Instron universal testing machine and compared with the storage modulus and dynamic viscosity obtained by dynamic rheometry. A strong correlation (r[2] at least 0.87) was found between the Instron values and the rheometer measurements at both optimum and overcooking times, indicating the sensitivity of dynamic rheometry to changes in pasta firmness. The Instron peak force measurement was found to be a more precise indicator of noodle firmness than was peak energy. The rheometer was able to differentiate between samples and to rank the noodle samples in the same order as the Instron did. Although moisture content was shown to have a major influence on the texture of cooked noodles, the differences in moisture between samples were not sufficient to produce the differences measured by either the Instron or by dynamic rheometry.