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Small-Scale Reconstitution of Durum Semolina Components

¹Tamworth Centre for Crop Improvement, Tamworth, NSW 2340, Australia. ²Quality Wheat CRC Limited, 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, Grain Quality Research Laboratory, P.O. Box 7, North Ryde, NSW 1670, Australia. ⁵Present address: CSIRO Plant Industry, GPO Box 1600, Canberra ACT 2601. ⁶Present address: Food Science Australia, P.O. Box 52, North Ryde, NSW 1670, Australia.

Pasta prepared by extrusion from 25 g of semolina has been compared with that made from a standard laboratory extruder and found to have similar quality. Durum semolina was fractionated into its starch, gluten, water soluble, and residue fractions. The freeze-dried components were reconstituted and the properties of the reconstituted semolina (ReSem) have been measured. Examination using a 2 g-mixograph and micro-extension tester has shown that ReSem behaves similarly to the original semolina. ReSem and semolina were made into pasta using a small-scale pasta extruder and were of comparable cooking quality. The fractionation and reconstitution of durum semolina on this scale is a useful technique to evaluate the contribution of semolina components to pasta quality.