How to make up for missing gluten in gluten-free foods?

The gluten free pasta (GFP) currently on the market is still far from what the consumer is looking for. Since the comprehension of the relationships between starch structure and processing conditions would help the industry re-formulating and developing products with texture similar to durum wheat products, the aim of work was the investigation of starch arrangements that could assure good cooking quality, in terms of low solid loss into cooking water and desired texture. Different thermal treatments - pre-gelatinization, mild or severe parboiling processes – were carried out on paddy rice and their effects on starch properties (pasting properties, water absorption, water solubility, susceptibility to alpha-amylase hydrolysis) were investigated. Two pasta-making processes (extrusion-cooking and conventional extrusion) were carried out and six different experimental GFP were obtained. Thermal treatments promoted changes in the physical properties of flours to different extents, affecting the cooking behaviour of corresponding GFP. Pasta made from native or pregelatinized flour exhibited higher cooking loss and lower firmness than semolina pasta. While, using parboiled rice flour accounted for better cooking behavior. The lowest value for cooking loss was obtained for sample prepared by flour from severe parboiled rice and extrusion-cooking, even if a firm texture (even two times higher than regular semolina pasta) was measured. On the contrary, pasta produced by conventional extrusion on severe parboiled rice promoted a texture similar to that of semolina pasta but with higher cooking loss. Different starch molecular rearrangements - affecting starch functionality and, consequently, cooking performances – detected in the products using a multidisciplinary approach (thermal properties, crystalline order, molecular size distribution, and iodine affinity) will be presented.