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The effect of drying temperatures on the profile of volatile compounds of pasta was studied. The solid phase microextraction coupled with gas chromatography/mass spectrometry allowed to identify 72 volatile compounds in the samples of not-dried, low-temperature-dried (LT-dried), high-temperature-dried (HT-dried), and wrongly very-high-temperature-dried (WVHT-dried) pastas. The samples of not-dried pasta contained alcohols, aldehydes, short-chain ketones, esters, furans, and some sulfur compounds. In the LT-dried pasta, the volatile aldehydes derived from lipid oxidation were more abundant than in HT-dried pasta. HT-dried pasta showed higher levels of furan and furan derivatives (especially 2-furanmethanol), derived from the Maillard reaction, than LT-dried pasta ( p < 0.05). Pyrazines arose from WVHT treatment. Significant differences were observed also for the color indices when comparing pasta subjected to LT and HT drying ( p < 0.001). Several volatile Maillard reaction products were significantly correlated ( p < 0.05 and p < 0.01) to a* and 100 − L*. The ratio aldehydes/furans allowed distinguishing in a significant way the treatments, independently from the lot characteristics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The drying process of pasta plays a crucial role in assuring its final quality, since the operational conditions of this process may imply thermal and mechanical damage that also affect final product yield. In this work, independent analyses on furosine, carbohydrates, and color indices (red, yellow, and lightness) have been conducted on pasta samples produced by an Italian pasta factory in order to correlate the examined parameters with pasta drying process. The investigation has been focused on pasta samples having different shapes in order to evaluate how the considered parameters are affected by the specific thermal process scheduled for each pasta format. The same analyses were also performed on semolina used for each pasta sample production, with the aim of verifying whether furosine amount, color indices, and maltulose change in relationship with Maillard reaction (MR) occurring during the drying process. Maltulose presence has been evaluated in semolina for the first time. In addition, the study has been extended to commercial pasta samples of different qualities; a Principal Component Analysis (PCA) has also been conducted to combine together all observed data with the aim of proposing an overall quality index. Finally, a statistical model based on chemical and color parameters as independent variables was successfully developed ( R = 0.990) by means of a multiple linear regression (MLR) analysis to predict commercial pasta cook values and drying cycles as consequences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]