Experimental Design applied in the semolina pasta cooking to increase the resistant starch formation

Abstract Pasta that undergoes the cooking exhibits several structural changes that can mainly affect protein and starch availability. In this study a central composite rotatable design (CCRD) 22 was applied to find the best cooking times and pasta:water ratios to prepare commercial semolina pasta (spaghetti) to increase RS levels. Time intervals applied to cooking ranged from 7 to 13 min while the pasta:water ratio ranged from 1:33 to 1:4 (m v-1; g mL-1). Composition of the spaghetti samples was also determined. Cooking times strongly influenced RS formation and water absorption (WA) capacity, since there was mean decrease of 17% in WA and increase of 164% in the RS content when both extreme points (-1.41 and +1.41) of the experimental design where applied. Protein and ash contents also affected the RS level. Cooking time between 7 and 10 min and pasta:water ratios (from 1:4 to 1:10, m v-1) enabled satisfactory RS contents (from 72.2 to 138.0 mg g-1), which should improve the functional fiber content in the pasta.