Furosine and flavour as markers of the nutritional and organoleptic quality of Italian pasta

Pasta is one of the most widely food consumed in the Mediterranean regions and, it is noteworthy that Italian people currently consume pasta as their main daily diet (26 Kg of pasta per year), an overwhelming market indeed (Italy is leader in pasta production with 3.2 million tons per year). Among the different steps of processing cycle (mixing, kneading, shaping, and drying), drying is a crucial operation for the final quality of pasta. High temperatures and short times drying technology was introduced into industrial process (T up to 130°C for 1-2 h) thus making clear advantages in terms of productivity, cost, reliability, reduction of microbial contamination and improvement of consistency of the pasta during cooking. On the other hand, the drying step furthers the formation of Maillard Reaction Products (MRPs) and may determine changes in flavour profile. Furosine is one of the MRPs most widely used as expression of nutritional damage being correlated to the lysine unavailability and as a descriptor of the drying conditions applied during pasta making. Actually, the furosine level in pasta is not subjected to the law regulation; however, a low furosine amount is related to a general high quality of food. Therefore, modifications of nutrients in food produced during heat treatment should be monitored by measuring the relative amount of new or transformed molecules present in end products. The furosine quantification, together with the characterization of flavour profile, could be used as a good index to evaluate pasta quality and to give an added value to pasta products. These markers, determined by routine analysis, may arouse a potential interest from the market point of view as they can reflect on final selling prices of the end products. Furthermore, from a consumer perspective, nutritional and organoleptic features are attractive elements to select a product then others on the market.