DEVELOPMENT AND EVALUATION OF NUTRITIONAL PROPERTIES OF GLUTEN FREE PASTA

A gluten-free pasta has been developed based on the flour blends of Sorghum, Defatted Soy and Amaranth.The aim of the study was to investigate the effect of process parameters i.e., Blend Ratio produced from sorghum flour, defatted soyflour and amaranth flour (60:10:30, 60:15:25, 60:20:20, 60:25:15 and 60:30:10) where sorghum flour is fixed parameter, Guar gum (1, 1.5, 2, 2.5 and 3 %), Drying Temperature (50, 55, 60, 65 and 70 C), and Air Flow Rate (1, 1.25, 1.5, 1.75 and 2 m/sec) on nutritional/chemical properties of gluten free pasta produced by a Pasta maker machine.The process uses response surface methodology based on central composite rotatable design (CCRD).Results shows that with regards to the flour blends of (SF:DSF:AF) sorghum, defatted soy and amaranth fortified pasta, the protein, fibre, ash content increases with increasing level of defatted soyflour whereas, the fat, carbohydrate and moisture content decreases with increasing level of defatted soyflour on pasta samples.The increase in drying temperature and airflow rate levels increases the moisture content in pasta samples.The best pasta samples were obtained at optimal conditions ( blend ratio 60:20:20, guar gum 2%, drying temperature 60C and airflow rate 1.5 m/sec).