Pasta, one of the most popular foods in the world, is serious business in Italy. There are more than 300 specific forms of pasta known by 1,300 names. While a 55-year-old 'pasta law' governs the production and manufacture of pasta, it does not mean that the popular food item cannot undergo innovation.
Italian researchers have discovered a new recipe to make fresh pasta last longer. With this recipe, the shelf life of fresh pasta can be extended by 30 days. It is a novel packaging process that involves applying bioprotective probiotic cultures to the pasta dough for better preservation. The study describing the new recipe was recently published in the journal Frontiers in Microbiology.
What are dried pasta and fresh pasta?
Dried pasta and fresh pasta are two different forms of pasta. Dried pasta is made up of semolina flour, water and salt, while fresh pasta is made up of all-purpose flour or 00 flour, which contains 12 per cent gluten, and eggs, and contains more moisture than dried pasta. Since dried pasta has low moisture content, it can be stored for a long time at room temperature. However, fresh pasta is prone to spoilage, and must be refrigerated. Fresh pasta takes half the time to cook as dried pasta.
How is fresh pasta produced and stored conventionally?
Fresh pasta is usually produced through an industrial process that includes heat-treating the product, which is the equivalent of pasteurisation for pasta. Once the pasta is ready, it is stored using modified atmospheric packaging (MAP). This is a packaging technique which involves removing oxygen and replacing it with other gases within a packaging consisting of plastic film. Mostly, an inert gas combined with an antimicrobial gas is used to extend the shelf life of a food product. The inert gas used is usually nitrogen, while the antimicrobial gas used is carbon-dioxide.
Problems associated with storage of fresh pasta
Fresh pasta, if kept refrigerated, has a shelf life of between 30 and 90 days. Even if fresh pasta is refrigerated, several things can go haywire, and regrade the quality of the pasta. If conditions are favourable for bacteria, such as excessive moisture, some bacteria may survive thermal treatment.
Therefore, chemical preservatives are often used to help retain freshness. However, this is not something preferable to all consumers. There are several customers who prefer natural, 'clean label' products without artificial or synthetic ingredients. For them, the options available to extend shelf life of fresh pasta are limited.
New recipe to make pasta last longer
A team of researchers has developed a new 'clean-label' method to minimise spoilage problems. First, the researchers changed the ratio of ‘modified atmospheric packaging’ gases and the combination of plastic films used in the packaging to better control microbial growth and impermeability. Then, the team added a multi-strain probiotic mixture to inhibit the growth of bacteria.
After this, the scientists tested the new protocol using a short, thin, twisted pasta type called trofie. The team manufactured three sets of fresh pasta. One set was manufactured and packaged conventionally, while the second one manufactured traditionally but stored in the experimental modified atmospheric packaging. The team added the bioprotective probiotic strains to a third set of fresh trofie.
The third set was then stored in the experimental packaging. After this, the scientists waited.
How the new recipe works
A few months later, the researchers used high-tech methods such as gene sequencing to identify microbial compositions and mass spectrometry to profile volatile organic compounds. Mass spectrometry is an analytical technique used to measure the mass-to-charge ratio of one or more molecules present in a sample. The researchers found that the trofie pasta treated with antimicrobial bioprotective probiotics in the experimental modified atmospheric packaging had the best shelf life of the three experiments, the study says.
In a statement released by Frontiers, Dr Francesca De Leo, one of the authors on the paper, said the results demonstrate that the modified atmospheric packaging, together with spray-dried probiotic bioprotective cultures, acted in a synergistic way to control the microbial spoilage of fresh pasta during refrigerated storage.
The new recipe will help fight food waste
According to Dr Leo, the technique developed by her could be introduced at the industrial level. This would add 30 days of shelf life to the pasta, compared to conventional products.
She said that from the consumer's standpoint, a definitive advantage of this product is the long shelf life and ease of storage. She added that this can be particularly important considering that consumers tend more and more to reduce the frequency of their food purchases, and consequently store as much as possible at home.
Dr Leo further said that the value of the research extends beyond finding a better way to store pasta longer by helping reduce food waste. About a third of all food produced each year is lost before it can be consumed, the World Food Programme estimates.
Dr Leo said that food waste and loss have a great influence on the ecological and environmental sustainability of the food system, and that the adoption of innovative technological solutions for food waste prevention, such as the one outlined in the study, can help eradicate these problems. For this to become true, companies need to be willing to accept the challenge and innovate.