RHEOLOGY OF WHEAT DOUGHS FOR FRESH PASTA PRODUCTION: INFLUENCE OF SEMOLINA-FLOUR BLENDS AND SALT CONTENT

Dynamic measurements were made with a controlled stress rheometer to study the viscoelastic properties (G', G', δ) of wheat doughs (45% wb water content) for fresh pasta production prepared with different blends of durum wheat semolina and common wheat flour with different concentrations of sodium chloride. Increasing the semolina and sodium chloride content, increased the strength and the solid-like behaviour of semolina-flour blends. The physical properties of dough were strongly dependent on particle size distribution and salt addition. By manipulating semolina-flour ratio and ionic strength, it was possible to obtain semolina-flour doughs with a rheological behaviour close to that of pure semolina dough.