FOOD QUALITY CONTROL: APPLICATION OF NEAR INFRARED SPECTROSCOPY FOR DRIED EGG-PASTA CHARACTERIZATION

In this study the possibility of using NIR spectroscopy as a rapid and non destructive tool to assess dried egg pasta quality was investigated, by determining the influence of the three main parameters (egg percent amount, drying temperature and drying time) on the spectroscopic fingerprint of the final product. Reference pasta samples were prepared with different egg percent concentration (20%, 22%, 25%, 27%, 30% and 33%), and different drying temperatures and times were tested. The results show that all of the three parameters have a relevant impact on the shape of the spectroscopic signal. Nevertheless, by the implementation of a non-linear regression method, has been possible to obtain an effective model for the prediction of the eggs content regardless of the manufacturing process used.