Pasta from yellow lentils: How process affects starch features and pasta quality

The effects of conventional extrusion (CV) and extrusion-cooking (EC) were investigated on 100% yellow lentils (YL). Both the extrusion processes led to pasta with good cooking quality (cooking loss: 7.0-7.1 g/100 g, firmness: 530-608 N), even in overcooking (cooking loss: 7.7-7.9 g/100 g, firmness: 418-513 N). Contrary to what is known for gluten-free cereals, CV is effective in producing pasta from native YL with no need for a pregelatinization step. However, pasta from EC showed a higher compression energy (2898 versus 2448 N*mm). In this sample, starch presented a higher degree of gelatinization (75.5 versus 57.6 g/100 g) and lower enthalpy (0.97 versus 1.07 J/g). At the same time, EC promoted a more compact structure that required higher temperature for melting (66.49 versus 63.16 degrees C) and showing pasting properties (79.1 versus 74.7 degrees C). Thus, by selecting suitable extrusion conditions it is possible to improve the cooking behavior of 100% pulse pasta.

Automated summary

The effects of conventional extrusion and extrusion-cooking on 100% yellow lentils pasta showed improvements in cooking quality, with EC producing pasta with higher compression energy and starch gelatinization compared to CV.