Abstract:
Pasta by itself is a healthy nutritional diet and has great scope as an ideal
functional food if supplemented with additional healthy ingredients. Taking this
context into consideration there is a need to develop nutrient rich pasta that
explores different health ingredients that are compatible with the physiological
characteristics of pasta. A study was conducted on the development of nutrient
rich pasta by cold extrusion technique using lab-scale DOLLY equipment. The
samples were made by mixing ingredients of rice flour, cornflour, chickpea, finger
millet, carrot powder and guar gum. The carrot was dried, powdered and mixed
with pulverized cereal. The extruded pasta was dried in a cabinet dryer at a
temperature of 70°C for 3hours. Based on the preliminary trials conducted, five
samples were selected and its quality evaluation was conducted. L* value of
cooked pasta sample ranged from 42.54 to 51.35. The maximum L* value of
51.35 was obtained for sample 5 whereas minimum value of 42.54 was obtained
for sample 4. The a* and b* value of cooked pasta ranged from 5.44 to 6.46 and
13.93 to 15.19, respectively. percentage elongation of the sample ranged from
21.2% to 10.3% and 20.87% to 7% in terms of length and thickness, respectively.
Maximum elongation (length) was obtained for sample 2 and minimum
elongation (length) for sample 3. Sample 5 had the maximum elongation in terms
of thickness whereas sample 4 had the minimum elongation in terms of thickness.
water activity of cooked pasta ranged from 0.892 to 0.842. optimum cooking time
of the samples ranged from 5 to 8 min. Maximum OCT was obtained for sample 1
whereas minimum value was obtained for sample 2 and sample 5. From the
quality and sensory analysis, sample 5(20 % chickpea, 38% rice, 18% cornflour, 9
% finger millet, 9 % carrot powder and 5% guar gum) was selected the best
among the other 5 samples in terms of colour, cooking characteristics and sensory
qualities. Further storage studies were done for the optimized sample for 3
months. The pasta samples packed in LDPE was found safe during the storage
period. The developed nutrient rich pasta incorporated with 20 % chickpea, 38%
rice, 18% cornflour, 9 % finger millet, 9 % carrot powder and 5% guar gum not
only ensured taste and overall acceptability, but also increased the nutrition level.
