title: From raw material to dish: pasta quality step by step.
abstract: Pasta is a traditional Italian cereal-based food that is popular worldwide because of its convenience, versatility, sensory and nutritional value. The aim of this review is to present a step-by-step guide to facilitate the understanding of the most important events that can affect pasta characteristics, directing the reader to the appropriate production steps. Owing to its unique flavor, color, composition and rheological properties, durum wheat semolina is the best raw material for pasta production. Although pasta is traditionally made from only two ingredients, sensory quality and chemical/physical characteristics of the final product may vary greatly. Starting from the same ingredients, there are a lot of different events in each step of pasta production that can result in the development of varieties of pasta with different characteristics. In particular, numerous studies have demonstrated the importance of temperature and humidity conditions of the pasta drying operation as well as the significance of the choice of raw material and operating conditions on pasta quality.
authors.affiliation: Food Science and Agricultural Department, University of Naples - Federico II, Via Università 100, I-80055, Portici, NA, Italy.
authors.forename: Angelo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sicignano
authors.affiliation: Food Science and Agricultural Department, University of Naples - Federico II, Via Università 100, I-80055, Portici, NA, Italy.
authors.forename: Rossella
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Di Monaco
authors.affiliation: Food Science and Agricultural Department, University of Naples - Federico II, Via Università 100, I-80055, Portici, NA, Italy.
authors.forename: Paolo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Masi
authors.affiliation: Food Science and Agricultural Department, University of Naples - Federico II, Via Università 100, I-80055, Portici, NA, Italy.
authors.forename: Silvana
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Cavella
mesh_terms: D003296:Cooking / Q000379:methods; D003890:Desiccation / Q000379:methods*; D002523:Edible Grain; D005433:Flour / Q000032:analysis*; D005511:Food Handling / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D009753:Nutritive Value; D014908:Triticum
keywords: cooking; drying; gluten; microwave; scanning electron microscopy; semolina pasta