Impact of Variation in Amylose Content on Durum Wheat cv. Svevo Technological and Starch Properties.

Reserve starch, the main component of durum wheat semolina, is constituted of two glucan homopolymers (amylose and amylopectin) that differ in their chemical structure. Amylose is mainly a linear structure formed of α-1,4-linked glucose units, with a lower polymerization degree, whereas amylopectin is a highly branched structure of α-1,4-chains linked by α-1,6-bonds. Variation of the amylose/amylopectin ratio has a profound effect on the starch properties which may impact the wheat technological and nutritional characteristics and their possible use in the food and non-food sector.

Degradation of starch in pasta induced by extrusion below gelatinization temperature.

The structural deformation of starch during pasta extrusion leads to varied effects on pasta quality. We investigated the impact of shearing force on the starch structure of pasta and pasta quality by varying the screw speed (100, 300, 500 and 600 rpm) with a temperature range of 25 to 50 ℃ in increments of 5 ℃, from the feeding zone to the die zone. The higher screw speeds were associated with more specific mechanical energy input (157, 319, 440, and 531 kJ/kg for pasta produced at 100, 300, 500 and 600 rpm, respectively), resulting in a lower pasting viscosity (1084, 813, 522 and 480 mPa·s for pasta produced at 100, 300, 500 and 600 rpm, respectively) in the pasta due to the loss of starch molecular order and crystallinity.

Interactions of Fusarium Crown Rot of Wheat with Nitrogen.

The cereal disease Fusarium crown rot (FCR), caused by the fungal pathogen (), is a major constraint to cereal production worldwide. Nitrogen (N) fertilizer is estimated to be approximately 30% of the input costs for grain growers in Australia and is the primary driver of yield and grain protein levels. When targeting high yield and protein, generous nitrogen fertilizer applications are thought to result in large biomass production, which exacerbates FCR severity, reducing grain yield and quality.

Durum Wheat Products-Recent Advances.

Durum wheat is widely used in various products, including long and short dried pasta, fresh and sheeted pasta, couscous, bulgur and baked bread [...

Influence of Some Spaghetti Processing Variables on Technological Attributes and the In Vitro Digestion of Starch.

Durum semolina spaghetti is known to have a low-moderate glycaemic index but the impact of various processing variables during the manufacture and cooking of pasta does affect pasta structure and potentially could alter starch digestion. In this study, several process variables were investigated to see if they can impact the in vitro starch digestion in spaghetti while also monitoring the pasta’s technological quality. Cooking time had a large impact on pasta starch digestion and reducing cooking from fully cooked to al dente and using pasta of very high protein content (17%), reduced starch digestion extent.