An up-close look at how durum wheat protein content and gluten strength impact pasta cooking quality

How well pasta maintains its firmness after cooking is a key factor in the marketing of Canadian durum wheat to durum buyers and pasta producers. We decided to take a closer look at how protein content and gluten strength affect the texture of cooked pasta—how firm pasta remains after cooking—and how pasta of different textures appears when examined using a scanning electron microscope.

We evaluated the texture of pasta made from 3 Canada Western Amber Durum varieties, each with 4 different protein levels. The 3 varieties represent very strong, moderately strong, and weak gluten strength. Spaghetti samples were cooked, fully cooked, or overcooked. We then examined the cooked pasta using a texture analyzer and a scanning electron microscope.

The pasta with higher protein content had the firmest texture after cooking and exhibited compact and dense microscopic protein networks. Pasta with lower protein content was softer after cooking and showed open and coarse protein networks. At certain levels of protein, samples with stronger gluten maintained their firmness when overcooked better than samples with weaker gluten.

Overall, we found that protein content has a much greater impact on the firmness of cooked pasta than gluten strength. The positive impact of gluten strength on firmness was seen in overcooked pasta made from protein levels (13 to 15%) commonly seen in commercial durum samples, but not in those with very low (11%) or high (17%) protein contents. These results will help durum breeders focus their efforts on improving the quality traits that make the greatest impact on the cooking quality of Canadian durum wheat. These results could also be used to help demonstrate to the Canadian durum buyers, millers and pasta processors that medium to high-protein Canadian durum will perform well in their recipes.

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This comprehensive study investigated the impact of protein content and gluten strength on the textural and micro-structural properties of cooked pasta at 3 cooking levels. Results generated from this study provide guidance for durum breeding programs, durum milling and pasta processing industry in setting protein content and gluten strength targets to ensure pasta quality.

Full research article

Wang, K., Pozniak, C. J., Ruan, Y., & Fu, B. X. (2022). Unveiling the impact of durum wheat protein quantity and quality on textural properties and microstructure of cooked pasta. Cereal Chemistry, 1– 16. https://doi.org/10.1002/cche.10627