WO1997029648A1

WO1997029648A1 - Stabilized pasta products

Info

Publication number: WO1997029648A1
Application number: PCT/US1996/001936
Authority: WO
Inventors: Shmuel Silver; Nechama Silver
Original assignee: Shmuel Silver; Nechama Silver
Priority date: 1996-02-15
Filing date: 1996-02-15
Publication date: 1997-08-21
Also published as: AU4922896A

Abstract

The invention provides a pasta product produced by cold extrusion and consisting essentially of low gluten or gluten-free flour, the flour being uncooked and selected from the group consisting of uncooked grain, legume, tuber or vegetable flours, in combination with water and a mixture of guar gum and xanthan gum stabilizers.

Description

STABILIZED PASTA PRODUCTS

The present invention relates to pasta products. More particularly, the present invention relates to pasta products produced from flours containing little or no gluten.

There exist on the market today gluten-free rice pasta products, traditionally made in the Far East, which are transparent strings made from starch extracted from boiled white rice. There is, however, a desire on the part of many consumers for pasta products from non-cooked, whole rice flour which would provide a quick, easy to prepare, delicious product with all the nutritional value of whole rice.

There is also a large population of consumers who are allergic to wheat and/or gluten found in several grains, who could benefit from a gluten-free pasta product.

An attempt was made to produce pasta products from a dough made of a whole-grain uncooked rice flour and water, using an extrusion process. The result, however, was that the pasta crumbled after drying, due to the lack of gluten in rice.

According to the present invention, it has now been discovered that extruded pasta products which do not crumble, do not fall apart during cooking, and provide a smooth, attractive appearance and good taste, can be produced from whole-grain and other flours containing no gluten or low gluten levels by the addition of stabilizers in place of gluten. It has further been found that such pasta products can also be prepared from uncooked legume, tuber or vegetable flours.

Thus, according to the present invention there is now provided a pasta product produced by cold extrusion and consisting essentially of low gluten or gluten-free flour, said flour being uncooked and being selected from the group consisting of uncooked grain, legume, tuber or vegetable flours, in combination with water and a mixture of guar gum and xanthan gum stabilizers.

In preferred embodiments of the present invention, said stabilizers are present in an amount of about 0.1-3.0 w/w%, preferably 0.6-2.5 w/w%.

Thus, e.g., an especially effective stabilizer combination was found to be a synergistic combination of between about 0.4 to about 1.8 w/w% guar gum, in combination with about 0.2 to about 0.7 w/w% xanthan gum.

The quantity of water in the dough depends on the type of flour and the type and quantity of stabilizer; however, the preferred range is approximately 20-35 w/w%.

As is known, pasta is usually made from wheat flour containing gluten, which is the constituent which strengthens and hardens the pasta.

Traditionally in the Far East, there exists pasta made from rice flour, which does not contain gluten, and which is cooked or heated in order to gelatinize the dough which will then form a firm pasta. As indicated above, according to the present invention there has now been found a way of making pasta from flours containing either no or very low content of gluten, without the need for cooking or heing, simply by adding the above- defined combination of stabilizers.

In U.S. Patgent 4,517,215 there is described the preparation of vegetable pasta, using sodium or potassium alginate and propylene glycol alginate, plus 0-75% starch, wherein at least 10% by weight of starch must be present when a high protein vegetable or potato powder is used.

Similarly, in U.S. Patent 4,435,435 there is described the preparation of rice pasta from uncooked rice flour, with from 0-40% pre-cooked rice flour, together with sodium and/or potassium alginate and/or propylene glycol alginate. Said patent specifically teaches that the incorporation of 5-40% pre-cooked rice flour is preferred.

In fact, both of said patents teach to a person skilled in the art that a simple combination of flour, water and stabilizers is not preferred and that in order to obtain a preferred product, there must be added either starch (which is not nutritional), pre-cooked rice flour, or combinations of alginates.

In contrast, the present invention, which uses the specific combination of guar gum and xanthan gum as stabilizers, and does not need the addition of any starch, thereby maintaining the nutritional value of the vegetable flour. Further, the present invention teaches a high quality rice pasta without the need to pre-cook any rice flour, thereby saving energy, equipment, and time while maintaining the nutritional value of the product. In CA 98:142197s there is provided the abstract of Japanese Publication 5809641, which describes the fact that elasticity of bread, noodles, eggroll skin and other doughs was markedly increased with xanthan gum. Similarly, in CA 112:177276b there is provided the abstract of Japanese Patent 1,309,665, which describes the manufacture of liquid or pasta with xanthan gum.

In CA 10067117v, the effects of guar-enriched pasta in the treatment of diabetes and hyperlipidemia are described.

As will be realized, none of said publications teaches or suggests the novel pasta products of the present invention, as described and defined herein.

As stated above, a variety of pasta products can be prepared according to the present invention, from flour of uncooked grains such as rice; uncooked legumes such as corn, peas, chickpeas and lentils; uncooked tubers such as Jerusalem artichokes and potatoes; vegetables such as buckwheat, and flour of deglutinized wheat.

If desired, the pasta product according to the present invention may further comprise additional ingredients selected from the group consisting of flavouring, colourants, nutrients, vitamins, minerals, and combinations of same.

While the invention will now be described in connection with certain preferred embodiments in the following examples so that aspects thereof may be more fully understood and appreciated, it is not intended to limit the invention to these particular embodiments. On the contrary, it is intended to cover all alternatives, modifications and equivalents as may be included within the scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims. Thus, the following examples which include preferred embodiments will serve to illustrate the practice of this invention, it being understood that the particulars shown are by way of example and for purposes of illustrative discussion of preferred embodiments of the present invention only and are presented in the cause of providing what is believed to be the most useful and readily understood description of formulation procedures as well as of the principles and conceptual aspects of the invention.

EXAMPLES

Three gluten-free or low-gluten pastas were prepared from the following ingredients in the amounts indicated:

Example 1 - Rice Pasta

69.8 w/w % uncooked rice flour 28.8 w/w % water 1.0 w/w % guar gum 0.4 w/w % xanthan gum

Example 2 - Buckwheat Pasta

69.7 w/w % uncooked buckwheat flour 28.1 w/w % water 1.6 w/w % guar gum 0.6 w/w % xanthan gum Example 3 - Corn and Rice Pasta

34.9 w/w % uncooked corn flour 34.8 w/w % uncooked rice flour 28.1 w/w % water 1.6 w/w % guar gum 0.6 w/w % xanthan gum

Example 4 - Corn Pasta

69.7 w/w % uncooked corn flour 28.1 w/w % water 1.6 w/w % guar gum

0.6 w/w % xanthan gum

Example 5 - Pea Pasta (Green or Yellow)

75.6 w/w % uncooked pea flour

22.7 w/w % water 1.2 w/w % guar gum

0.5 w/w % xanthan gum

Example 6 - Lentil Pasta (Red or Green)

75.6 w/w % uncooked lentil flour

22.7 w/w % water 1.2 w/w % guar gum

0.5 w/w % xanthan gum Example 7 - De-Glutenized Wheat Pasta

72.5 w/w % uncooked de-glutenized wheat flour 25.3 w/w % water 1.6 w/w % guar gum 0.6 w/w % xanthan gum

Example 8 - Potato Pasta

72.5 w/w % uncooked potato flour 25.3 w/w % water 1.6 w/w % guar gum 0.6 w/w % xanthan gum

Method of Preparation

Dry, uncooked flour is first measured to the desired quantity. The stabilizer or the combined mixture of stabilizers is added to the flour and mixed well in dry form. The water is then added to the flour-stabilizer mixture, optionally along with any of the further ingredients listed above, and the combination is mixed for approximately 10 minutes to form a dough. The dough is then passed through an extruder to form the pasta, which is allowed to dry in blower-circulated air, and is then packaged for sale. Alternatively, the extruded dough can be fried or baked.

The pasta produced according to the present invention is prepared by the consumer in the conventional manner, i.e., it is added to boiling water, cooked until tender, and immediately strained. It will be evident to those skilled in the art that the invention is not limited to the details of the foregoing illustrative examples and that the present invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the essential attributes thereof, and it is therefore desired that the present embodiments and examples be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive, reference being made to the appended claims, rather than to the foregoing description, and all changes which come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are therefore intended to be embraced therein.

Claims

WHAT IS CLAIMED IS:

1, A pasta product produced by cold extrusion and consisting essentially of low gluten or gluten-free flour, said flour being uncooked and selected from the group consisting of uncooked grain, legume, tuber or vegetable flours, in combination with water and a mixture of guar gum and xanthan gum stabilizers.

2. A pasta product according to claim 1, wherein said stabilizers are present in an amount of about 0.1-3.0 w/w %.

3. A pasta product according to claim 1, further comprising additional ingredients selected from the group consisting of flavouring, colourants, nutrients, vitamins, minerals, and combinations thereof.