Pasta consumption and connected dietary habits: Associations with glucose control, adiposity measures, and cardiovascular risk factors in people with type 2 diabetes—TOSCA.IT study

Background: Pasta is a refined carbohydrate with a low glycemic index. Whether pasta shares the metabolic advantages of other low glycemic index foods has not really been investigated. The aim of this study is to document, in people with type-2 diabetes, the consumption of pasta, the connected dietary habits, and the association with glucose control, measures of adiposity, and major cardiovascular risk factors. Methods: We studied 2562 participants. The dietary habits were assessed with the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) questionnaire. Sex-specific quartiles of pasta consumption were created in order to explore the study aims. Results: A higher pasta consumption was associated with a lower intake of proteins, total and saturated fat, cholesterol, added sugar, and fiber. Glucose control, body mass index, prevalence of obesity, and visceral obesity were not significantly different across the quartiles of pasta intake. No relation was found with LDL cholesterol and triglycerides, but there was an inverse relation with HDL-cholesterol. Systolic blood pressure increased with pasta consumption; but this relation was not confirmed after correction for confounders. Conclusions: In people with type-2 diabetes, the consumption of pasta, within the limits recommended for total carbohydrates intake, is not associated with worsening of glucose control, measures of adiposity, and major cardiovascular risk factors

Pasta-making properties of the new durum wheat variety biensur suitable for the northern mediterranean environment

Industrial pasta is commonly made from mixtures of semolina from different durum wheat varieties, and there is a very low market presence of mono-varietal pasta from local, short supply chains. In this work, dough rheological properties and pasta quality traits of the new durum wheat cv. Biensur, which has a high HMW/LMW-GS ratio, were evaluated with a view to developing short-chain, mono-varietal pasta production in NE Italy. Chemical and sensory analyses on short-cut pasta, viz. tubetti, made with semolina from cv. Biensur at two drying temperatures revealed that it has good technological characteristics and stability, excellent cooking and sensory properties, and is comparable to the high-quality commercial reference cv. Aureo. We conclude that Biensur provides farmers and traders with new market opportunities and offers improvements to the environmental and economic sustainability of the durum wheat chain

Potentiality of protein fractions from the house cricket (Acheta domesticus) and yellow mealworm (Tenebrio molitor) for pasta formulation

House cricket (Acheta domesticus; AD) and yellow mealworm (Tenebrio molitor; TM) are two promising insect species for possible novel food applications. In this research the insect protein fractions were extracted, characterised, and used in the manufacturing of pasta by replacing semolina with 14% of powdered proteins. Pasta samples were then analysed to evaluate technological quality aspects. Results showed that insect protein inclusion resulted in a darker (L* value: 76.7, 53.4, 59.9 for control, AD and TM, respectively) and firmer (12.4, 13.7, 13.8 N: control, AD and TM, respectively) AD and TM pasta, and a higher water absorption index for AD (148, 178, 150%: control, AD and TM, respectively). In conclusion, both extracts offer interesting opportunity for pasta formulations, possibly leading to an improved protein content and quality. From an industrial perspective, the present study demonstrated that the tested edible insects can provide protein extracts for the possible fortification of pasta with high-quality protein and technological traits, thus representing an ingredient with interesting potential for several food applications

Nutritional characterization of gluten free non-traditional pasta

When a food is formulated, its characterization is important from the chemical and biochemical point of view; even more whennon-traditional raw materials are used. Noodles were made with cassava starch and corn flour (4:1), milk, egg, salt and xanthangum. The chemical composition of the pasta was determined and the total and resistant starch content was quantified. Thehydrolysis rate of the starch was measured at different times, from which the hydrolysis index and, subsequently, the predictiveglycemic index was calculated. The chemical composition of the noodles showed its high content of total fibers. From thedigestibility tests, high values were obtained for proteins (93%), and average values for the starch (52%). The results of the starchhydrolysis kinetics showed a higher proportion of slowly digestible starch with a low glycemic index (46%). Analyzed noodles arewithin the dietary guidelines that suggest a diet with high total dietary fiber content and low glycemic index.Fil: Milde, Laura Beatríz. Universidad Nacional de Misiones. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Químicas y Naturales; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Nordeste; ArgentinaFil: Chigal, Paola Soledad. Universidad Nacional de Misiones. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Químicas y Naturales; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Nordeste; ArgentinaFil: Chiola Zayas, Maria Ofelia. Universidad Nacional de Misiones. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Químicas y Naturales; Argentin

Obtaining a Functional Product Through the Exploitation of Mushroom Flour in Pasta

The present study focuses on the influence of adding mushroom powder on a certain assortment of pasta. The research comprises two major directions: the study of the raw materials used to produce pasta from a compositional point of view and the quantification of some biologically active compounds of interest; emphasizing the potential of using Boletus edulis mushroom powder in the composition of pasta and evaluating the quality of the product from a nutritional and sensorial point of view. For this purpose, two types of pasta have been created, with different percentages of mushroom, 10% and 20%, but also a blank sample obtained in the same conditions, but without mushroom powder. To achieve the goal the following analyzes were conducted: proteins, total polyphenols, antioxidant activity, fat, humidity, ashes, acidity, increase in volume of the boiled pasta and customers’ preferences.By using sensory analysis has been established that the consumers preferred pasta enriched with 10% mushroom powder. In conclusion, the addition of mushrooms flour assures an enhancement of the nutritional value, as well as of the organoleptic characteristics of the final product

Hanks-Type Serine/Threonine Protein Kinases and Phosphatases in Bacteria: Roles in Signaling and Adaptation to Various Environments

Reversible phosphorylation is a key mechanism that regulates many cellular processes in prokaryotes and eukaryotes. In prokaryotes, signal transduction includes two-component signaling systems, which involve a membrane sensor histidine kinase and a cognate DNA-binding response regulator. Several recent studies indicate that alternative regulatory pathways controlled by Hanks-type serine/threonine kinases (STKs) and serine/threonine phosphatases (STPs) also play an essential role in regulation of many different processes in bacteria, such as growth and cell division, cell wall biosynthesis, sporulation, biofilm formation, stress response, metabolic and developmental processes, as well as interactions (either pathogenic or symbiotic) with higher host organisms. Since these enzymes are not DNA-binding proteins, they exert the regulatory role via post-translational modifications of their protein targets. In this review, we summarize the current knowledge of STKs and STPs, and discuss how these enzymes mediate gene expression in prokaryotes. Many studies indicate that regulatory systems based on Hanks-type STKs and STPs play an essential role in the regulation of various cellular processes, by reversibly phosphorylating many protein targets, among them several regulatory proteins of other signaling cascades. These data show high complexity of bacterial regulatory network, in which the crosstalk between STK/STP signaling enzymes, components of TCSs, and the translational machinery occurs. In this regulation, the STK/STP systems have been proved to play important roles

Proportion of common wheat kernels in commercial samples of durum wheat by chemical methods

Durum wheat (Triticum durum Desf.) is used for production of semolina which is the required raw material for the elaboration of good quality pasta products. Common wheat (T. aestivum L,)t generally used in breadmaking, yields milling products (flour or fariña) that are not suitable for that purpose. Shortage and localization of durum wheat production, as well as its higher cost, have compelled the utilization of common wheat for the production of macaroni. When different blends of hérd or soft wheat (fariña or flour) with durum wheat are used, the quality of macaroni is reduced. Por this reason, the estimation of common wheat in pasta products is an important problem from the point of view of quality and market control, Chemical methods for detection and estimation of common wheat in pasta products have been developed in this laboratory during the past six years. The related problem of estimating the proportion of common wheat kernels in commercial samples of durum wheat has been traditionally solved either by niorphológica1 examination or by cytogenetical methods. The former are too unreliable and the latter too cumbersome, In this paper, we have reviewed the above mentioned chemical methods and investigated their application to the analysis of single kernels and the estimation of the proportion of common wheat kernels in commercial samples of durum wheat in order to avoid the cytogenetical methods or to confirm the morphological examination

Recent Advances in the Use of Sourdough Biotechnology in Pasta Making

The growing consumers' request for foods with well-balanced nutritional profile and functional properties promotes research on innovation in pasta making. As a staple food and a common component of diet, pasta can be considered as a vector of dietary fiber, vegetable proteins, vitamins, minerals, and functional compounds. The conventional process for pasta production does not include a fermentation step. However, novel recipes including sourdough-fermented ingredients have been recently proposed, aiming at enhancing the nutritional and functional properties of this product and at enriching commercial offerings with products with new sensorial profiles. The use of sourdough for pasta fortification has been investigated under several aspects, including fortification in vitamin B, the reduction of starch digestibility, and gluten content. Sourdough fermentation has also been successfully applied to non-conventional flours, (e.g., from pseudocereals and legumes), in which an overall increase of the nutritional value and health-promoting compounds, such as a significant decrease of antinutritional factors, were observed. Fermented non-conventional flours, obtained through spontaneous fermentation or using selected starters, have been proposed as pasta ingredients. As the result of wheat replacement, modification in textural properties of pasta may occur. Nonetheless, fermentation represents an efficient tool in improving, besides nutritional and functional profile, the sensory and technological features of fortified pasta.Peer reviewe