ABSTRACT
In recent years, the renewed interest for foods with a natural image has increased the demand for dry pasta produced from "hulled" wheat such as the Triticum turgidum ssp. dicoccum, also known as "farro". In order to contribute to the general knowledge, two lines of farro were considered in this study. To have a comparison, an old cultivar of Triticum turgidum ssp. durum (Senatore Cappelli) in addition to a commercial semolina were also examined. All semolina samples were used to produce pasta samples. Results showed some differences among pasta samples that seem to be due not to the presence of specific protein subunits but especially to the quantitative ratio between the different subunits. Results also reconfirmed the role played by the drying technology that is able to affect the sensory characteristics of pasta products.
Subject(s)
Food Technology , Plant Proteins/analysis , Triticum/chemistry , Color , Consumer Behavior , Food Handling/methods , Food, Organic , Humans , Italy , Nutritive Value , Plant Proteins/genetics , Taste , Triticum/geneticsABSTRACT
Recently, the peoples interest in natural and organic products led to a "rediscovery" of hulled wheat, particularly T. turgidum ssp. dicoccum, commonly known as "farro". Compared with durum wheat (T. turgidum ssp. durum), farro is characterized by low productivity and low quality semolina and flour, which makes it unsuitable for the production of bread and pasta. In this paper, the agronomic, technological and nutritional characteristics of three new varieties of farro obtained by crossing the T. turgidum ssp. dicoccum c.v. Molise with T. turgidum ssp. durum c.v. Simeto, were analysed. Data were then compared with those concerning older populations of T. turgidum and of two varieties of T. spelta. The aim of this work is to highlight the productive advantages of the new varieties and to emphasize their prospective use in the production of bread and pasta with considerable health properties due to nutritional characteristics of hulled cereals.
