Effects of shorts, by-product of milling, on the chemical composition and quality properties of pasta

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of wheat shorts, a milling by-product, on some properties of pasta. For this purpose, wheat semolina was replaced with wheat shorts at 15, 30, and 45% levels in pasta formulation. Some physical, chemical, and sensory properties of pasta samples were evaluated and compared with control samples prepared with durum wheat semolina. As the concentrations of shorts increased in the pasta formulation, the brightness values decreased and the redness values increased. The ash, fat, total dietary fibre, total phenolic content, antioxidant activity, and mineral content increased with the use of shorts. The highest solid loss value (10.28%) was found in pasta samples containing 45% shorts. The addition of shorts up to 30% presented similar overall acceptability scores to control pasta samples. As a result, it was observed that as the shorts content of the samples increase, the nutritional value and the levels of some components that affect health positively, increase as well. So, the samples containing 30% shorts appear to be at forefront due to health effects and overall acceptability scores.

Microscopic level modeling of induction welding heating mechanisms in thermoplastic composites

Simulation and analysis of electromagnetic induction heating of continuous conductive fiber-based composite materials is used to (in)validate a series of hypotheses on the physics dominating the heating process. The behavior of carbon fibers with and without surrounding polymer in an alternating electromagnetic field is studied at a microscopic level in ANSYS Maxwell using the solid loss to quantify heat generation in the composite material. To limit the number of elements, the fibers are modeled with a polyhedron cross-section instead of a circular cross-section. In addition, each layer is modeled as an layer of fibers, e.g. 20 fibers placed next to each other. The simulations indicate that samples with fibers oriented in 0 and 90 orientation yield a substantial higher solid loss than fibers oriented in the 0 orientation only. The solid loss in both cases is however not enough to explain the level of heating observed in practice. Filling the volumes between fibers with polymer results in greater solid loss than samples with no polymer between the fibers, at equal fiber volume fraction. Note, no contact between fibers is modeled. The conductivity of the polymer is experimentally determined. The lab tests show relatively low finite resistance values in the transverse direction, indicating that the polymer in a composite should not be considered an isolator. The simulations seem to justify the conclusion that heating of thermoplastic composites in an alternating magnetic field rely on currents through the polymer. Without the polymer and subsequently no polymer conductivity, even if the electrical fields are strong there is almost no heat generated. The carbon fibers are required to be in proximity of each other to create the electrical fields that induce the current through the polymer. The heating is determined by the product of current density squared times the resistivity of the polymer.

Heating mechanisms in induction welding of thermoplastic composites

The heat generated within thermoplastic carbon composite laminates during induction welding can be attributed to one, or a combination of the three heating mechanisms discussed in the literature: (i) Joule heating of fibers; (ii) Joule and/or dielectric heating of polymer; and (iii) fiber-to-fiber contact resistance heating. The answer to the question, which of the three heating mechanisms is most dominant, remains open. This research aims to provide an answer to this question through finite element simulations using both an in-house developed numerical Whitney-elements based toolbox for induction welding simulations (WelDone), and the commercially available software, ANSYS Maxwell. The simulations are done at two levels; first, using WelDone laminate-level simulations are performed to see in which direction: fiber-, transverse to the fiber-, or thickness direction, most of the heat was generated; and second, ANSYS Maxwell was used to simulate the solid loss on a microscopic, inside fiber and resin, level with and without the presence of resin. In the latter series of simulations, contact between fibers in different layers was explicitly modeled. The numerical simulations revealed that on the laminate-level most heat is generated in the fiber- and thickness directions. The former coincides with Joule heating of fibers, while the latter can be attributed to either Joule heating of polymer and fiber-to-fiber contact resistance heating, or both. The fiber level simulations, however, revealed that both fiber-to-fiber contact and no-fiber-to-fiber contact conditions have a significantly small effect on the solid loss compared to presence of resin. Based on the latter, the heat generation in the thickness direction was attributed to a second heating mechanism; Joule heating of polymer. It must be noted that the dielectric heating of polymer was ignored due to the relatively low operating frequency at which induction welding takes place.

Effects of Red Rice or Buckwheat Addition on Nutritional, Technological, and Sensory Quality of Potato-Based Pasta

This work investigates the effects of red rice (R) or buckwheat (B) flour addition on nutritional, technological, and sensory quality of potato-based pasta (gnocchi). Three gluten-free (GF) and three conventional (C) samples were produced in an industrial line without any addition or with 20% R or B. R and B addition significantly (p < 0.05) reduced starch content and increased fat amount and ready digestible starch fraction (potential higher glycemic impact). R addition significantly (p < 0.05) worsened GF pasta structure, increasing solid loss in cooking water (5.4 ± 1.2 vs. 4.1 ± 0.5 g/100 g pasta) and reducing product firmness (408 ± 13 vs. 108 ± 2 N). B addition resulted in intermediate consistency (243 ± 8 N), despite the highest total fiber content and weight increase during cooking. Similar trends were found in C samples, indicating a better texturizing capacity of B in comparison to R. Samples without any addition were the most liked (C = 67.4 and GF = 60.6). Texture was the major contributor to liking: uniform structure and firm texture were positive predictors of liking, whereas a granular and coarse matrix contributed negatively. The outcomes of this research can be useful in developing GF potato-based pasta for consumers focused on healthier foods and for industries willing to better valorize their products.

The Utilization of Red Dragon Fruit Peel Extract (Hylocereus costaricencis) As A Natural Colorant of Dried Noodle

The use of colorants in the dried noodle manufactures is an effort of product diversification. Besides of being used as a natural coloring agent, this peel extract is also used to improve nutritional value of the expected product. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of red dragon fruit peel extract on the physical quality of dried noodle. The study was conducted by using Completely Randomized Design (CRD) method with one factor, namely concentration of red dragon fruit peel extract (N1 = 10 ml, N2 = 15 ml, N3 = 20 ml, N4 = 25 ml, N5 = 30 ml). The observations of its physical quality consisted of water absorption, solid loss during cooking, and organoleptic tests (aroma and color). The best quality of dried noodle was obtained by using 30 ml red dragon fruit peel extract (N5) with physical properties, namely DSA levels of 351.92%, solid loss during cooking 4.78%, aroma 3.79 (like) and color 3.89 (like).

Pasta based on Sweet Potato: Optimization of Fiber Content in Response Surface Methodolgy

Sweet potato as a high fibre supplement that can be used in the production of pasta. The production of sweet potato pasta was optimized by Response Surface Methodology. The parameters used for optimizing the products are solid loss, texture, fibre content. Box - behnken design was used to develop models for the response. For the production of sweet potato based pasta 174.285 g of sweet potato, 48.4735 g of water, 28.8296 g of soy flour, 2.69575 g of Arabic gum and 0.877038 g of cmc (carboxyl methyl cellulose). The responses were mostly deviated by changes in quantity of soy flour and Arabic gum and to a small extent the deviation by sweet potato and water levels. The result of this study showed a minimum solid loss of 13.45% and maximum texture hardness of 6994 g and maximum fibre content of 8.52 g

Analysis of cooking characteristics of important rice varieties marketed in Gujarat State

The study was carried out to analyze cooking characteristics of important rice varieties grown and processed in Gujarat state of India. In the study cooking characteristics which are of the most important viz. optimum cooking time, elongation ratio, water uptake ratio, gruel solid loss, pasting temperature and final viscosity were determined by standard methodologies and found to be 17 min, 1.523, 2.6, 4.32%, 91.7 °C and 2558 ± 165.6 cP for parboiled rice, 12 min, 1.356, 2.7, 8.25%, 87.9 °C and 3546 ± 142.3 cP for Jeerasar rice and 14 min, 1.318, 2.8, 10%, 93.9 °C and 1523 ± 179.6 cP for GJ-17 rice, respectively. Also, the size i.e. length, width and thickness of all the three varieties were measured and plotted to observe the trend of expansion after cooking. From the above observations, it was found that parboiled rice has comparatively better cooking characteristics but has higher cooking time, which consumers may not accept for household purpose.

Variety difference of physicochemical and cooking properties of selected brown rice from Thailand and Malaysia

Rice is a major staple food in Thailand and Malaysia. Although brown rice is a highly healthy substitute, preference is very low due to its texture and cooking quality. However, there are some brown rice varieties such as Sungyod (SY), Chiang (CH), Lepnok (LP) from Thailand and long grain specialty 1(LS1) and long grain specialty 2 (LS2) from Malaysian peninsula are commonly consumed in such areas. This study aimed to investigate the physicochemical and the cooking properties of these brown rice to understand the properties for better utilization. Therefore, Rapid visvo analyser (RVA), soaking characteristics, general cooking properties, textural properties and calorific values were measured and compared in 5 varieties of brown rice. Hydration kinetics indicated that LS1 and LS2 were faster in water absorption to reach plateau compared to the SY, LP, and CH. The cooking time of these brown rice was in the range from 29 to 35 min. The cooked brown rice had length/breadth (L/B) ratio (2.4 – 3.0), water uptake ratio (2.5 – 3.0), elongation ratio (1.1 –1.4) and gruel solid loss (3.2 – 5.2%). The hardness and the cohesiveness measured from texture analyzer were in the range of 6.75 – 15.5 N and 0.13 – 0.16. There was a significant variation in RVA pasting property of whole rice flour (p < 0.05). The variations of different properties of brown rice could be considered for the processing of brown rice and its application.

Effect of microwave heating on accelerated ageing qualities of rice

The effect of microwave heating (MWH) i.e. microwave power (540, 720, 900 W)(MWP) and exposure time (30, 60, 90 s)(ET) at a constant moisture content of 12.4±1.8 % wb of the paddy on milling and ageing properties i.e. total yield, head rice yield (HRY), cooking time, kernel elongation ratio (KER), volume expansion ratio (VER), water uptake, solid loss, gel consistency, hardness and stickiness was evaluated. These properties were determined for microwave treated and compared with freshly harvested rice and naturally aged paddy samples of 6 months storage. Head rice yield was maximum 50.67±0.17 % in microwave treated sample whereas it was 38.0 ±0.37 % in freshly harvested rice sample. Higher exposure time (90 s) and microwave power (720, 900 W) yielded lower head rice (41.50±0.42 and 43.74±0.14 %) may be due to rapid interaction of water molecules to electromagnetic field to internal fissure development of grains which caused high moisture gradient and strain in kernel and lead to more broken kernels. The cooking time of freshly harvested rice (control sample) was less (17.0± 1.52 min) compared to microwave heating at 900 W for 60 s (25.2± 0.50 min) and 6 month naturally aged rice (27.0± 0.80 min). KER of cooked rice was higher (2.87 ± 0.23) for 900 W MWP and 60s ET and VER for this case was achieved more than 3±0.37. Solid loss was less and Water uptake of rice during cooking was more towards higher exposure time i.e. 90 s and 900 W and 540 W power. The water uptake and GC values gave more or less similar results showing no definite trend. Water uptake was more in microwave treated rice i.e. 81.0±0.79 % than freshly harvested rice (65.0± 1.08 %) and six months naturally aged rice (73.00± 1.5 %). The freshly harvested rice gave a softer gel consistency (38.20± 1.18 mm), whereas, MWH rice gave harder gel (GC 25.90±0.92 mm) as that of 6 months stored rice of GC 27.50± 1.15 mm. Considering all these properties, microwave treatment of rice at 900 W MWP and 60 s ET has achieved better ageing qualities i.e. more cooking time, KER, VER, water uptake, harness of grain and less solid loss, gel consistency and stickiness of rice.