Influence of Raw Materials and Processing Conditions on Spaghetti Hydration Kinetic During Cooking and Overcooking

A study of the influence of raw materials and processing conditions on the hydration kinetic during cooking and overcooking of spaghetti is presented. Water sorption tests on commercially available spaghetti and on three different types of homemade spaghetti were run at 100(degree)C. In particular, the weight, diameter, and length of spaghetti strands were monitored over time for approximately 200 min. The spaghetti hydration process was quantitatively resolved into the controlling phenomena (i.e., water diffusion, macromolecular matrix relaxation kinetic, and residual deformation release kinetic) by fitting a novel mathematical model to the experimental data. The different behavior of spaghetti was analyzed for each of the phenomena involved during hydration. Results suggest that processing conditions highly influence the quality of spaghetti with respect to raw materials.