RELATIONSHIP OF INSTRUMENTAL ASSESSMENT OF SPAGHETTI COOKING QUALITY TO THE TYPE AND THE AMOUNT OF MATERIAL RINSED FROM COOKED SPAGHETTI

The total organic matter (TOM) test of D''Egidio et al. (Cereal Foods World 27 (1982) 367), which determines the amount of material that can be obtained by exhaustive rinsing of drained, cooked spaghetti, related very closely to instrumental evaluation of cooked spaghetti stickness, firmness and elasticity. The TOM test was scaled down successfully to analyse samples comprising about 25 g of spaghetti, thus making the test a viable low-cost alternative to instrumental methods for use in quality screening programs. Spaghetti stickiness and TOM results were highly sensitive to the hardness of the cooking water, thus making standardization of the cooking water essential. Better discrimination of differences in stickiness and TOM values among samples was achieved at higher values of cooking water hardness. Examination of the components within TOM solutions suggested that high concentrations of amylose on the surface of cooked spaghetti may contribute to stickiness.