Effect of Different Industrial Pasteurization Conditions on Physicochemical Properties of Egg-Filled Pasta

The aim of this study was to estimate the effect of heat treatment using two different industrial pasteurizers (a nascent steam pasteurizer [NSP] and an inject steam pasteurizer [ISP]) on the moisture content, degree of gelatinization, color and furosine content of egg-filled pasta samples. Moreover, a comparison of samples treated with microwave pasteurization on the packaged product was performed. The results showed that the two pasteurization treatments resulted in significant differences in the sample properties and that all of the parameters correlated well with the thermal treatment intensity (C<inf>0</inf>) (r value ranged from 0.989 to 0.999; P < 0.05). The application of microwave heat treatment to packaged samples did not significantly alter these differences. The NSP demonstrated lower "thermal damage" with less furosine formation in the pasta and filling; it also reduced certain positive effects, such as starch gelatinization and the presentation of yellow color in terms of hue angle. This difference might be explained by the different apparent heat transfer coefficients observed for the two pasteurizer machines, with the higher value observed for the ISP (347 W/m² K versus 202 W/m² K). Practical Applications Pasteurization is the most important step in the industrial fresh pasta process because of its effect on the reduction of the microbial population as well as on the maintenance of the product quality and nutritional characteristics. Thus, the study on the effect of different industrial heat treatment conditions on some pasta properties can benefit the future of food pasta industry. This research focused on the pasta modifications using different industrial pasteurizers (a nascent steam versus an inject steam pasteurizer). Our results confirmed (1) modifications due to heat treatments and (2) correlations between the indices used to quantify the modification and thermal treatment intensity. Furthermore, the utilization of different types of pasteurizers used in industrial fresh pasta production resulted in a significant effect on pasta modifications due to different values of the apparent heat transfer coefficients. Hence, the type of pasteurization equipment used was crucial to determine the final quality of the product.