Pasta Chemistry: What Happens in the Jar?

Over there pasta is one of the favorite foods of Italians, but even though we all consume about 23 pounds a year, we really know what’s in pot when was this cooked?

Pasta is an Italian product that consists only of durum wheat and mainly consists of a quantity starch And gluten which is on average around 12-13%, but never less than 10.5%, as indicated by theUnion of Italian Pasta Makers. These quantities regulate what the ‘estate‘of the product in the jar.

Once in contact with water, the proteins give rise to gluten, which gives structure to the pasta, allowing it to retain its starch. The stronger this protein net is, the denser the meshes are and so the pasta retains more starch.

This balance, along with other production aspects linked to the centenary expertise of pasta makers, makes the difference between an overcooked seal and a sticky and overcooked pasta.

Union of Italian Pasta Makers

When the pasta is thrown into the water, some special chemical reactions take place: starch at 60 ° C increases in volume swelling and gives rise to a kind of jelly which dissolves and comes out of the paste. This is easy to see from theboil water which is becoming more and more cloudy. Proteins, on the other hand, have the opposite effect. These start at solidify between 70°C and 80°C, tightening the meshes of the gluten network that holds the starch inside.