Quality characteristics and in vitro digestibility study of barley flour enriched ditalini pasta

A ditalini pasta with a mixture of durum wheat and beta-glucan enriched barley flour (BF) (60/40%, w/w) was found to have a final content of 5% beta-glucan (BF-ditalini). Main quality parameters of BF-ditalini, water uptake and starch-protein texture, were comparable with those of 100% durum wheat ditalini (control). After in vitro simulated intestinal digestion, the content of beta-glucan in the post intestinal (PI) supernatant of BF-ditalini processed with its cooking water (soup) was six fold higher than that of pasta asciutta. BF-ditalini soup, but not pasta asciutta, strongly delayed the hydrolysis of the starch, without difference of viscosity between PI supernatant and control. PI supernatant from BF-ditalini showed total phenol content and antioxidant capacity significantly higher (p < 0.001) than control. In conclusion, ditalini pasta fortified with 40% BF may be considered a dietary product with high quality indexes and of functional interest for the abundance of antioxidant phenols, and for the hypoglicemic effect of beta-glucan when ingested as a soup. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved