Cereal Chem. 70:67-72   |  VIEW ARTICLE

Viscoelastograph Measures and Total Organic Matter Test: Suitability in Evaluating Textural Characteristics of Cooked Pasta.

M. G. D'Egidio, B. M. Mariani, S. Nardi, and P. Novaro. Copyright 1993 by the American Association of Cereal Chemists, Inc. 

Two sets of Italian durum wheats were used to make spaghetti: 54 samples dried at low temperature (50 C) and 64 samples dried at high temperature (90 C). Cooking quality was evaluated using sensory judgment (SJ), total organic matter (TOM), and viscoelastograph parameters. SJ was expressed by its components (stickiness, bulkiness, and firmness) and by an overall score. Factor analysis was applied as a clustering tool to assess similar behavior of variables. Four factors were useful in describing the relationships among variables for each temperature considered. At 50 C the first factor was related to viscoelastograph parameters, the second grouped SJ, stickiness, bulkiness, and TOM, whereas firmness was linked to a different factor. At 90 C firmness was associated with stickiness, bulkiness, and SJ on the second factor, whereas TOM shifted to another factor. Multiple regressions were calculated to evaluate the relative worths of stickiness, bulkiness, and firmness on SJ and TOM as well as their relationships with viscoelastograph measures when different drying temperatures were applied. At low temperature, stickiness was the most important SJ component and TOM was a suitable method in estimating SJ. At high temperature, firmness played a more important role and viscoelastograph consistency was used to complement the TOM test.