The quality of functional whole-meal durum wheat spaghetti as affected by inulin polymerization degree

The use of inulin in pasta improves the nutritional value decreasing the glycemic index in the blood after pasta ingestion but it compromises the sensory characteristics in terms of elasticity, firmness, bulkiness and adhesiveness. Thus, in this work, the impact of substituting whole-meal durum wheat flour with inulin on cooking quality, sensory and textural properties, digested starch and chemical composition of spaghetti was investigated. Two types of inulin at two different concentrations (2% and 4%) were adopted: inulin extracted from cardoon roots (CRI) (high polymerization degree) and commercial inulin (CHI) (low polymerization degree) produced from chicory. From the chemical point of view, the sample with 4% CRI showed the greatest total dietary fibres content and the lowest available carbohydrates content. A global acceptable quality was also recorded in all the other technological and sensory properties of enriched pasta with both types and both concentrations of inulin. The most feature of the work is that when CRI was added to the dough, better results were recorded, thus suggesting that for pasta enrichment, the selection of inulin with proper polymerization degree is a strategic factor for final product acceptance.