Functional and rheological characteristics of fresh egg pasta

The composition, colour, cooking behaviour and rheological properties of different samples of industrial packaged and retail-manufactured fresh egg pasta were evaluated. All of the parameters showed high variability, due to differences in product formulations and technology. Retail-manufactured pastas were clearly distinguished from packaged samples due to the absence of pasteurisation. Pasteurisation caused raw pasta to become tougher and harder, while its break strain and matter loss in cooking water decreased. Principal Component Analysis separated the pasta samples into three groups, according to the severity of the thermal treatment applied. It was observed that cooking causes an overall reduction in the variability of the rheological characteristics, making retail-manufactured and packaged pastas more similar to one another