DESC:FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to pasta composition and a process to prepare the same.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Pasta a dish of Italian origin consists of dough commonly made up of durum wheat and water. Such pasta made from durum wheat is widely accepted in comparison to multi-grain pasta or an oats based pasta. However, most of the multigrain and oats based pasta available today have a, gooey, slimy texture and hence lack in sensorial aspects. The protein and starch chemistry behind the structure, rheology of such dough and addition of different grain flour dilutes the textural quality resulting in the pasta having a gooey and slimy texture. The starch leaching or cooking losses is also very high in oats based pasta.

Further, the widely used pasta technology produces pasta which requires a large amount of cooking time generally 12-15 minutes whereas, instant multigrain noodles cook in a short duration of 5 minutes but are nutritionally low as they include a frying process.

CN102987249 discloses a method for manufacturing oat noodle where the raw material is mixed with water, followed by rolling of sheets and drying. The process of hydrothermal treatment of the pasta is however absent.

CN1742614A refers to a non deep fried oat instant noodle produced by kneading, first stage extruding and curing, second stage extruding and curing, forming, drying, cooling, checking and packaging.

Therefore, there is a need for a process of making multigrain pasta which overcomes the problems of sliminess, gooiness and improves the texture quality of the pasta. Such a process is desirable that reduces the cooking time of the pasta and such product which gives familiarity of both pasta and noodles. Further, there is a need of such pasta noodles which cooks in a short duration with minimum cooking losses and also retains its nutritional value.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a process of preparing pasta comprising of
forming a wet mix of the raw materials;
extruding the wet mix by opening of die and adjusting the speed of cutter to obtain pasta;
subjecting the pasta to hydrothermal treatment; and
drying the pasta.

An aspect of the present invention relates to a process of preparing noodle like pasta with reduced cooking time, the process comprising
forming a wet mix of raw materials;
extruding the wet mix by opening of die and adjusting the speed of cutter to obtain pasta;
subjecting the pasta to hydrothermal treatment;
drying the pasta; and
cooking the pasta to obtain noodle like strands of pasta.

Another aspect of the invention relates to a process to prepare noodle like pasta with reduced cooking time, the process comprising of:
forming wet mix of the raw materials;
subjecting wet mix to hydrothermal treatment;
extruding the treated wet mix by opening of die and adjusting the speed of cutter to form pasta;
subjecting the pasta to hydrothermal treatment ;
drying the pasta; and
cooking the pasta to obtain noodle like strands.

An aspect of the invention relates to a pasta comprising oats, wheat component and gluten.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
An embodiment of the present invention relates to a process of preparing pasta, the process comprising of
forming a wet mix of the raw materials;
extruding the wet mix by opening of die and adjusting the speed of cutter to obtain a pasta;
subjecting the pasta to hydrothermal treatment; and
drying the pasta.

An embodiment of the present invention relates to a process of preparing noodle like pasta with reduced cooking time, the process comprising
forming a wet mix of the raw materials;
extruding the wet mix by opening of die and adjusting the speed of cutter to obtain a pasta;
subjecting the pasta to hydrothermal treatment ;
drying the pasta; and
cooking the pasta to obtain noodle like strands of pasta.

In the aforesaid embodiments, the dry raw materials are initially fed to a hopper to form a dry mix. Water is then added very slowly to the said dry mix to form a wet mix which is mixed till the mixture becomes homogeneous. The content of the water added is controlled by the moisture content of the raw materials and is added in a proportion of 30-42% of weight of dry mix preferably 32-40%. Extrusion of the wet mix is carried out in a temperature range of 40°C-80°C.
The opening of the die of the instrument which is used to make pasta gives a desirable shape to the pasta thus resulting in pasta of various shapes such star, heart, square preferably ring shape. Furthermore, the speed of the cutter of the instrument which is used to make pasta gives the desired thickness to the pasta. The speed of the cutter used in the present invention is in the range of 60-120rpm. Thus extrusion by opening of the die and adjusting speed of the cutter gives the desired thickness of 0.5mm -2.5mm preferably 1mm to the pasta, which reduces cooking time. Therefore, the pasta obtained by the process of the present invention has a reduced cooking time of less than 7 minutes preferably 1-7 minutes.

Further, the pasta obtained by the process of the present invention is designed in terms of thickness and width in such a way that the pasta maintains its shape till it is cooked in water. Thus, the process of the present invention yields pasta having such thickness which causes the pasta to break into noodle like strands of pasta upon cooking thus giving an appearance and familiarity of both noodle and pasta in one product. Furthermore, the noodle like strands of pasta obtained by the process of the present invention are less sticky and have an improved textural quality.

Hydrothermal treatment is a process of subjecting a product to wet steam for a defined duration of time. In the present invention the pasta is subjected to hydrothermal treatment for a period of 2-12 minutes at a temperature in the range of 80-150°C. Subjecting the said pasta to hydrothermal treatment in the present invention results in the pasta with improved texture. Thus, hydrothermal treatment of the pasta after the step of extrusion improves the texture quality of the pasta. Furthermore, hydrothermal treatment of the pasta in the present invention pre cooks the pasta thus resulting in a reduced cooking time of the pasta and the duration of the cooking time of the pasta is reduced to less than 7 minutes preferably 1-7 minutes. Thus, an advantage obtained by the process of the present invention is to obtain pasta which not only has an improved texture quality but also has a reduced cooking time.

Drying of the hydrothermal treated pasta is carried out at a temperature in the range of 40°C-80°C and at a relative humidity(RH) of 45-70%.

The dried pasta of the present invention is further mixed with 5-30% seasoning and dried vegetables to form seasoned pasta which is then cooked for 1-7 minutes to obtain noodle like pasta.

The raw materials used to prepare the dry mix are oats , wheat component, gluten, binders, texture improving agent and salt. The addition of water to the said dry mix forms the wet mix.

The dry mix of the raw materials can also further include flour selected from low GI lentil flour and barley flour, rice flour, ragi flour, millet flour. Low GI lentil flour, barley flour is used alone or in combination of 2-20% by weight of dry mix.

Oats is present in a concentration of more than 30% of the total weight of the formulation on a dry basis and is selected from oat flour, oat semolina.

The wheat component is selected from semolina, whole wheat flour, durum wheat flour or mixtures thereof and is present in a concentration of less than 50% of the total weight of the formulation on a dry basis.

Gluten is present in a concentration of upto 25% preferably 8-20% by weight of the total weight of the formulation on a dry basis.

The gluten content dilutes in the dry mix on the increase in the percentage of oats hence to adjust the final binding protein content and to obtain the desirable binding of the pasta gluten is present in the range of 8-20% by weight of the total weight of the pasta.

Salt is used in the range of 0.5-3% of the total weight of the formulation on a dry basis.

The binders used are selected from modified starch, locust bean gum, guar gum, xanthan gum in the range of 0-5% of the total weight of the formulation on a dry basis preferably guar gum used in the concentration of 0.1-2.5%. Further, xanthan gum is used in the range of 1-3% with or without guar gum.

The texture improving agent is selected from calcium carbonate, calcium chloride, phosphates, sulphates. Phosphates can be selected from sodium salts of phosphates preferably trisodium phosphate. Sulphates can be selected from sodium and potassium salts preferably potassium salt and sodium salt. The texture improving agents in the present invention is used in a concentration of 0.2-1% of the total weight of the formulation on a dry basis.

Another embodiment of the present invention relates to the hydrothermal treatment of the wet mix to further reduce the cooking time of the pasta noodles. The aforesaid treatment makes the pasta noodles cook in less than 2minutes, the process comprising of:
forming wet mix of the raw materials;
subjecting the wet mix to hydrothermal treatment;
extruding the treated wet mix by opening of die and adjusting the speed of cutter to form pasta;
subjecting the pasta to hydrothermal treatment ;
drying the pasta; and
cooking the pasta to obtain noodle like strands.

Hydrothermal treatment of the wet mix prior to step of extrusion of the wet mix, further reduces the cooking time of the pasta to less than 2 minutes.

An embodiment of the present invention relates to oats based pasta comprising of oat, wheat component, gluten, salt, guar gum, calcium carbonate, seasoning and dehydrated vegetables.

An embodiment of the present invention relates to pasta composition comprising of oats , wheat component and gluten.

The oats is present in a concentration of more than 30% of the total weight of the formulation on a dry basis selected from oat flour, oat semolina.

The wheat component is present in a concentration of less than 50% of the total weight of the formulation on a dry basis and is selected from semolina, whole wheat flour, durum wheat flour or mixtures thereof.

Gluten is present in the concentration of upto 25% preferably 8-20% by weight of the total weight of the pasta.

Another embodiment of the present invention relates to pasta comprising of oats, wheat component, binder and gluten.

The binders used are selected from modified starch, locust bean gum, guar gum, xanthan gum in the range of 0-5% preferably guar gum used in the concentration of 0.1-2.5%. Further, xanthan gum is used in the range of 1-3% with or without guar gum.

Another embodiment of the present invention relates to a pasta composition comprising oats, wheat component, gluten and a texture improving agent.

The texture improving agent is selected from calcium carbonate, calcium chloride, phosphates, sulphates. Phosphates can be selected from sodium salts of phosphates preferably trisodium phosphate. Sulphates can be selected from sodium and potassium salts preferably potassium salt and sodium salt. The texture improving agents in the present invention is used in a concentration of 0.2-1% of the total weight of the formulation on a dry basis.

Further, the pasta as disclosed in the aforesaid embodiments further comprises of salt in the range of 0.5-3% of the total weight of the formulation on a dry basis.

The pasta as disclosed in the aforesaid embodiments further includes flour selected from low glycemic index (GI), lentil flour and barley flour, rice flour, ragi flour, millet flour. Low GI lentil flour, barley flour is used alone or in combination of 2-20% by weight of dry mix.

The pasta as disclosed in the aforesaid embodiments is further mixed with seasoning and dried vegetables. The seasoning is used in a concentration of 5-30%.

The pasta as disclosed in the aforesaid embodiments has a thickness in a range of 0.5mm-2.5mm preferably 1mm which facilitates the breaking of the pasta into noodle like strands upon cooking.

The pasta which breaks to form noodle like strands on cooking as disclosed in the present invention is healthy containing protein content in the range of 10-25% of which 5-25% is gluten and 5-10% of dietary fiber of which the soluble component is preferably beta glucan in the range of 1-5%.

The pasta as disclosed in the aforesaid embodiments is of various shapes such as star, heart, square preferably ring.

The pasta of the present invention has good sensorial effects, improved texture quality and a reduced cooking time.

The range of macronutrients for every 100g of pasta is given in tables below. The macronutrients of seasoned pasta are less than unseasoned pasta because of the less quantity of multigrain pasta per 100g. This is because the pasta quantity in the seasoned one ranges from (75 – 90%) as compared to the unseasoned where it is 100%.

Range of macronutrients for every 100g of unseasoned pasta
Table 1
Nutrients per 100 g
Energy (Kcal) 320 - 400
Protein (g) 15 - 25
Fat (g) 6 - 9
Carbohydrate (g) 63 -73
Dietary Fiber (g) 5-8

Range of macronutrients for every 100g of seasoned pasta
Table 2
Nutrients per 100 g
Energy (Kcal) 300 - 350
Protein (g) 12 - 17
Fat (g) 4 - 6
Carbohydrate (g) 68 -75
Dietary Fiber (g) 5-8

The pasta obtained by the process of the present invention was tested for cooking quality and sensory evaluation.

Cooking quality
Cooking quality is an important property of cooked pasta. Cooking quality is defined as the quantity of the starch which leaches out in the water during cooking. The more the starch leaches out; the water becomes hazier and thus decreases the overall taste experience. Thus, cooking quality is quantified as the percentage (%) of starch leached out in cooking.

Method to analyze cooking quality
It is analyzed by using a standard amount of sample (10-15g) for a predetermined time. Starch leaches out in the water during cooking, which is quantified post drying the solution. Cooking loss (%) was determined by drying the water drained from cooked pasta at 105°C and expressing the weight of residue as percentage of original pasta sample.

Cooking Quality of the new oat based pasta and other benchmarks are given in the table below –

Table 3
Sample Pasta/ Noodles Starch leached out in cooking (Total solids %)
Sample A Pasta (Semolina (100%)) 0.41
Sample B Noodles- (84%)refined wheat flour, (14%), oil (1.5) salt, calcium carbonate(0.4), guar gum(0.1) 0.48
Sample C (Present Invention) Oat based noodle like pasta of the (oats 60%, semolina 30%, 8% gluten,0.3% guar gum, 1 % salt, 0.4% calcium carbonate,) 0.42

From the table above, it can be observed that the cooking quality of the aforesaid oats based pasta of the present invention is well comparable to the regular Pasta and noodles present in market with reference to cooking quality. Despite of Multigrain and Oats addition the cooking quality of the sample is managed by the formulation and process designed.

The present invention thus results in pasta with improved texture quality and cooking quality inspite of comprising of oat flour in comparison conventional pasta.

Sensory Evaluation -
Sensory evaluation of the noodle like pasta of the present invention (Sample C) and Sample D was done to understand the textural differences present. Texture properties of Pasta mainly comprises of Hardness, Adhesiveness, Springiness, Cohesiveness, Gumminess, Chewiness and Resilience.
1. Hardness - Hardness is defined as the maximum force during the first compression that is the first bite. It is has often been substituted by the term firmness.
2. Adhesiveness - Adhesiveness is defined as the negative force for the first bite and represents the work required to overcome the attractive forces between the surface of a food and the surface of other materials with which the food comes into contact.
3. Springiness - Springiness relates to the height that the food recovers during the time that elapses between the end of the first bite and the start of the second bite.
4. Cohesiveness - Cohesiveness is defined as the ratio of the positive force area during the second compression to that during the first compression. Cohesiveness may be measured as the rate at which the material disintegrates under mechanical action. Tensile strength is a manifestation of cohesiveness.
5. Gumminess- Gumminess is defined as the gummy/adhesiveness throughout the compression cycle.
6. Resilience- Resilience is a measurement of how the sample recovers from deformation both in terms of speed and forces derived.

Method for sensory profiling Sensory profiling of sample B, sample C and sample D was done with 15 consumers to test for three parameters such as hardness, adhesiveness and chewiness. 20 g of freshly cooked samples were presented to the consumers along with crackers as neutralisers. Further, all the samples were presented together to the consumer but in a different sequence, considering the probability of each sample at each position to be same.

Sensory profiling was done on a scale of 5, wherein 1 being the lowest and 5 being the highest.

The Sensory data tabulated is disclosed in the table below.
Table 4
Parameters (Sample A) Lentil Pasta
(Chickpea 70%, 27% Tapioca, 10% Pea protein, 3% xanthan gum)(Sample D) Noodle like pasta (Sample C)

Hardness 3.5 4.2 4
Adhesiveness 2.25 3.4 2.5
Chewiness 3.2 1.1 3.5
Scale
Very high 5
High 4
Moderate 3
Slightly less 2
Low 1

It can be observed from the data that multigrain pasta of the present invention (Sample C) is comparable to Sample A and chickpea pasta (Sample D) pasta in terms of Hardness, chewiness and Adhesiveness.

Hardness of multigrain pasta (Sample C) is slightly higher than durum wheat (Sample B) and chickpea pasta (Sample D) pasta. This is contributed by the presence of fibres in the structure which impart rigidity to the multigrain pasta.

Further, adhesiveness and chewiness is again contributed mainly by the starch quality, fibre and Beta-Glucan present in oats. Other hydrocolloids present in the matrix also enhance the adhesiveness.

Despite high wholegrain and multigrain fraction the multigrain pasta of the present invention is comparable to regular pasta product.

Nutrition data of Sample B and Sample C
Table 5
(Sample C) (Sample B)
Nutrition 100 g 100 g
Energy 378 402
Total Fat 5.5 14.4
SFA 1.3 7.1
Carbohydrates 67.6 58.9
Added Sugar 3.8 1.2
Dietary Fibre 5.8 3.8
Soluble Fibre 1.4 0.28
Protein 14.4 9.2

Thus, from the sensory profiling and cooking quality data, the pasta of the present invention showed the same sensory profiling effects as that of any other regular pasta. The present invention being different in composition from the regular pasta showed the same sensory profile as regular pasta but showed higher nutrition levels in comparison to the conventional pasta, noodle.

Examples
The following examples illustrate the present invention, but are not limiting thereof
Example 1:
600 gms of oat flour, 300 gms of semolina , 80 gms of gluten, 3 gms of guargum, 13 gms of salt and 4 gms of calcium carbonate were mixed to prepare dry mix. 600 ml of water was added to the dry premix to form a wet mix. The wet mix was extruded through the opening of a round shaped die (11 mm) with an opening area of 2.7 mm square and cut through the cutter moving at 70 rpm so as to get product of 1.5 mm The product was given hydrothermal treatment for 8 minutes and dried at (60 Deg C, RH 55%).

Example 2:
600 gms of oat flour, 300 gms of semolina , 80 gms of gluten, 3 gms of guargum, 13 gms of salt and 4 gms of calcium carbonate were mixed to prepare dry mix. 600 ml of water was added to the dry premix to form a wet mix. The wet mix was extruded through the opening of a round shaped die (11 mm) with an opening area of 2.7 mm square and cut through the cutter moving at 70 rpm so as to get product of 1.5 mm The product was given hydrothermal treatment for 8 minutes and dried at (60 Deg C, RH 55%). The product was cooked along with seasoning and dry vegetables for 4 minutes to from noodle like pasta

Example 3:
720 gms of oat flour, 200 gms of durum wheat flour, 62 gms of gluten, 1 gms of xanthum gum, 15 gms of salt & 2 gms of sodium phosphate were mixed to prepare dry mix. 250 ml of water were added to the dry premix to form a wet mix. This wet mix was subjected to hydrothermal treatment for 10 mins. The treated wet mix was extruded through the opening of a round shaped dye (11 mm) with an opening area of 2.7 mm square and cut through the cutter moving at 70 rpm so as to get a product of 1.2mm thickness. The product was given hydrothermal treatment for 4 minutes and dried at (60 Deg C, RH 55%). The product was cooked along with seasoning & dry vegetables for 1 minute to from noodle like pasta
,CLAIMS:
1. A process of preparing pasta, the process comprising
forming a wet mix of the raw materials;
extruding the wet mix by opening of die and adjusting the speed of cutter to obtain pasta;
subjecting the pasta to hydrothermal treatment; and
drying the pasta.

2. A process of preparing noodle like pasta with reduced cooking time, the process comprising
forming a wet mix of the raw materials;
extruding the wet mix by opening of die and adjusting the speed of cutter to obtain pasta;
subjecting the pasta to hydrothermal treatment;
drying the pasta; and
cooking the pasta to obtain noodle like strands of pasta.

3. The process as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the raw materials comprise of oats, wheat component, gluten, binders, texture improving agent, water and salt.

4. The process as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the speed of the cutter is in the range of 60 – 120 rpm.

5. The process as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the pasta is treated hydrothermally for 2-12 minutes.

6. The process as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the pasta is subjected to hydrothermal treatment at temperatures ranging 80-150°C.

7. The process as claimed in claim 1 or 2, wherein the pasta is dried at a temperature in the range of 40°C-80°C and relative humidity (RH) of 45-70%.

8. The process as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2, wherein opening of the die results in various shapes of pasta such as square, heart, star, preferably ring.

9. The process as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2, wherein extrusion results in pasta of thickness in the range of 0.5 mm -2.5 mm .

10. The process as claimed in claim 2, wherein the cooking time is reduced to less than 7 minutes.

11. A pasta comprising oats, wheat component and gluten.

12. The pasta as claimed in claim 11, further comprising seasoning and dried vegetables.

13. The pasta as claimed in claim 11, further comprising flour.

14. The pasta as claimed in any of the preceding claims 11-13 comprising of binder and salt.

15. The pasta as claimed in claim 11, wherein oats is present in a concentration of more than 30%.

16. The pasta as claimed in claim 11, wherein the wheat component is present in a concentration of less than 50%.

17. The pasta as claimed in claim 13, wherein the flour is present in a concentration of 2-20%.

18. The pasta as claimed in claim 16, wherein the wheat component is selected from semolina, whole wheat flour, durum wheat flour or mixtures thereof

19. The pasta as claimed in claim 17, wherein the flour is selected from rice flour, lentil flour, barley flour, ragi flour, millet flour.

20. The pasta as claimed in claim 14, wherein the binder is selected from modified starch, locust bean gum, xanthan gum, guar gum.

21. The pasta as claimed in claim 11, wherein gluten is present in a concentration of upto 25%.

22. The pasta as claimed in any of the preceding claims further comprising a texture improving agent.

23. The pasta as claimed in claims 22 , wherein the texture improving agent is selected form calcium carbonate, calcium chloride, phosphates selected from sodium salts of phosphates preferably selected from trisodium diphosphate, sulphates selected from sodium salts of sulphates preferable sodium sulphate and potassium sulphate.

24. The pasta as claimed in claim 22, wherein the texture improving agent is present in the range of 0.2-1%.

25. A process to prepare noodle like pasta with reduced cooking time, the process comprising of:
forming wet mix of the raw materials;
subjecting wet mix to hydrothermal treatment;
extruding the treated wet mix by opening of die and adjusting the speed of cutter to form pasta;
subjecting the pasta to hydrothermal treatment ;
drying the pasta; and
cooking the pasta to obtain noodle like strands.