Prediction and measurement of pasta quality

Summary In the past several years, pasta and noodle products have become a major growth segment of the cereal foods industry. The popularity of pasta can be attributed to its sensory appeal, versatility, low cost, ease of preparation, strong nutritional image and excellent storage stability as well as to increased consumer interest in ethnic foods. Predominant quality attributes of pasta, as they relate to its appearance, flavour and texture, have been described in this review. Because of their importance to consumer acceptance, textural properties of pasta and noodles have been investigated most extensively. Commonly applied sensory, instrumental and chemical methodologies for prediction or measurement of these characteristics have been critiqued, and pitfalls of current approaches have been delineated. Although sensory appraisal has often been used to evaluate pasta quality, increasing reliance on physical and chemical measurements to provide estimates of product quality has been occurring recently in research laboratories.