Rheological and Quality Characteristics of Pasta Produced from Sunn Pest Damaged Wheat Flour and Ascorbic Acid

Sunn pest, Eurygaster integniceps, is a major problem of wheat flours in Iran and adversely affects the characteristics of bakery products. This study was undertaken to improve the quality ofpasta produced from different percentages of Sunn Pest Damaged Wheat Flour (SPDWF) using Ascorbic Acid (AsA). SPDWF was mixed with sound wheat flour at the levels of 3, 5, and 7%, and AsA at 200 and 300 ppm were added to 5 and 7% treatments. Doughs were evaluated in terms of rheological properties and the product was evaluated in terms of solid substances loss, baking number and sensory characteristics. Increasing the SPDWF decreased protein content, gluten index, and water absorption, while increasing AsA increased them significantly. Dough development and dough stability time were reduced by using highly infected treatments. AsA significantly improved 5% SPDWF and produced pasta similar to the 3% SPDF. Pasta made from higher damaged flour had no significant (P 0.05) difference with the control in terms of taste, while it had lower values of acceptability, solid substance loss, and cooking number, and addition of AsA at the levels of 200 and 300 ppm cannot improved damaged flours.