Evaluation of Quality, Antioxidant Capacity, and In Vitro Digestibility of Wheat Pasta Fortified with Basil, Rosemary, and Oregano

The growing demand for functional foods has driven interest in enriching cereal-based products with natural bioactive compounds. However, incorporating plant-based ingredients often compromises the technological quality of products like pasta. This study investigates partially substituting wheat flour with basil, rosemary, and oregano powders (2.5%, 5.0%, and 7.5%) to develop nutritional pasta that balances technological quality with enhanced bioactivity. All pasta formulations containing 2.5% and 5.0% herb powder substitution exhibited cooking losses (5.5–8.0 g/100 g dry basis) within the acceptable limit (≤8 g/100 g dry basis). Basil-fortified pasta showed a similar cooking behavior to the control, especially at low substitution levels. All fortified pastas exhibited significantly higher total phenolic content (1.23–3.00 mg GAE/g cooked pasta) and antioxidant capacity (ABTS•+ scavenging activity: 34.91–85.61 μmol Trolox/g pasta; reducing power: 2.88–12.89 μmol Trolox/g pasta) than the control. Antioxidant responses were not proportional to substitution level, as 2.5% formulations often showed comparable or higher radical scavenging activity than higher levels. Rosemary-fortified pasta showed the strongest antioxidant performance in cooked pasta, whereas basil-fortified pasta presented the highest phenolic bioaccessibility and reducing power in the intestinal fraction after simulated digestion. In vitro starch hydrolysis was significantly reduced in all 2.5% formulations, suggesting a potential reduction in the postprandial glycemic response. These findings highlight the importance of substitution level and herb type in developing nutritionally improved pasta with good technological quality.