Pasta-Making Process: A Narrative Review on the Relation between Process Variables and Pasta Quality

Pasta is an increasingly popular food worldwide and different formulations have been developed to improve its nutritional profile. Semolina that is high both in protein and gluten content is recognized as the ideal raw material to produce conventional dry pasta. When alternative raw materials are used, an understanding of the relationship between processing variables and pasta quality is crucial in order to optimize the redesign of the production process. This review aims to: (1) investigate the main challenges of the pasta-making process, highlighting the processing variables that most affect pasta quality; and (2) indicate the unknown factors that influence the pasta-making process and which need to be studied. After overviewing the last twenty years of research in the pasta sector, the interplay/relationship between processing variables and pasta quality is examined, together with the main innovations proposed for each step of pasta processing. An analysis of all the variables involved in the process and their influence on each other will elucidate how to optimize certain parameters to ensure the production of pasta with the desired characteristics.