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Beth Bessler

Mary Reher
F&N 453





The Effect of Soy Flour Content on the
Texture and Preference of Pasta

Beth Bessler
Mary Reher











Beth Bessler
Mary Reher
F&N 453

Abstract:
The objective of this experiment was to replace part of the wheat flour in pasta with soy
flour without sacrificing texture and preference by consumers. Soy flour is a more healthful
option than wheat flour. We used a basic pasta recipe to make three variations of pasta using
different proportions of wheat flour to soy flour. The pasta was then subjected to tests with the
texture analyzer and Hunter colorimeter, as well as sensory tests with a taste panel. Although the
pasta with wheat flour was preferred, the pasta with 30% soy flour was not disliked, and the
preference was similar to that of the wheat flour. The texture and color values were not
substantially different. It would be possible to create pasta with partial soy flour that would be
preferable to wheat flour pasta in taste and texture.
Introduction:
The purpose of this project was to create pasta that would be health beneficial compared
to regular pasta made with wheat flour. In order to accomplish this, wheat flour was replaced
with soy flour in a pasta recipe. Soy flour has been found to have numerous health benefits after
multiple research studies have been performed. Multiple research studies have been done due to
the fact that Asia has a particularly great consumption of soy products. Many of these studies
have linked the consumption of soy to certain health benefits and disease prevention. By
replacing wheat flour with soy flour, a pasta with additional health benefits was created.
After numerous research studies have been conducted, soy flour has been found to reduce
the risk of coronary heart disease as well as lower LDL cholesterol, which is a factor that can
cause heart disease itself. Americans today have an increasing rate of developing disease such as
coronary heart disease. According to the research article proposed by Umprhess, foods with
added soy products contain plant compounds called isoflavones. Soy flour contains these
isoflavones. Isoflavones are known to have antioxidant properties, protecting cells from damage
caused by free radicals. Isoflavones have also been claimed to have lower mortality rate, lower
incidence of heart disease, type II diabetes, osteoporosis, and certain cancers (Brouns).
Isoflavones have the ability to prevent heart disease because they can reduce the oxidation of
LDL which is important in preventing vascular damage and disease. Soy flour has been widely
used to produce high protein products. Due to this, it has been shown to lower blood cholesterol
as well as affect the distribution of plasma lipid fractions (Ugarcic-Hardi, Z). Therefore, soy
flour has the ability to help reduce the frequency of heart disease.
Isoflvaones have also been shown to reduce certain menopausal symptoms in women.
Under certain study conditions, it was shown that with an intake of soy isoflavones, there was a
reduced frequency in hot flashes in menopausal women (Brouns).
Another health benefit of soy has been on bone health. In a specific study that Brouns
mentions in his article, 66 menopausal women, with the addition of 90mg/day of soy protein,
were found to have reduced bone loss in the lower spine region compared to those that had taken
the placebo. With this being found, soy could have an effect on reducing the occurrence of
osteoporosis as well.
Beth Bessler
Mary Reher
F&N 453

With theses previously mentioned health benefits that soy products contain,
the objective tests consisted of the use of a texture analyzer and a Hunter Colorimeter. The
texture analyzer tested the texture of each variable. The Hunter Colorimeter helped to determine
the color of each variable and how different or similar each variable was. The subjective test
consisted of a structure rating scale to rate each sample on its texture. There was also a hedonic
rating scale included, based on what each panelist personally liked. The independent variable is
the amount of soy flour substituted for wheat flour in the pasta recipe. The various amounts of
sour flour that were used were 0%, 40%, and 50%. The dependent variables are the texture, or
chewiness, color, and taste panel preference.

Methods:
Overall Design:
The design of this experiment was to prepare pasta with varying amounts of soy flour in
proportion to traditional wheat flour. Three different variations were prepared from scratch
using the same recipe, varying only the amount of soy flour used. The following table outlines
the variables.
Variable Variation
Control 100 g. wheat flour
Variable 1 30 g. soy flour and 70 g. wheat flour
Variable 2 40 g. soy flour and 60 g. wheat flour

Recipe:
Following is the recipe used for the pasta preparation. The recipe was obtained from the
Marcato Atlas Pasta Machine Product manual, which is the machine we used to roll and cut the
dough.
Ingredients:
500 g. soft wheat flour and 5 eggs.
Procedure:
Pour the flour into a bowl and the eggs into the middle of the flour. Mix the eggs with a fork
until they are completely blended with the flour. Knead the mixture with your hands until it is
completely homogenous and consistent. If the mixture is too dry add some water, if it is too soft
add some flour. A good mixture should never stick to your fingers. Remove the mixture from
the bowl and place it onto a lightly floured table. If necessary, continue to knead the mixture and
cut it into small pieces.
Beth Bessler
Mary Reher
F&N 453

How to prepare the dough and the pasta with Atlas machine:
Set the machine regulator to position 1, pulling it outwards and turning it so that the two smooth
rollers are completely open. Pass a piece of mixture through the machine turning the handle.
Repeat this operation 5-6 times, folding the dough over and adding some flour to the middle if
necessary. When the dough has taken a regular shape, pass it through the rollers once only with
the regulators set on number 2, then once again on number 3 continuing until you obtain the
desired thickness. With a knife, cut the dough crossways in pieces approximately 25 cm long.
Insert the handle in the hole for the cutting rollers, turn it slowly and pass the dough through so
as to obtain the type of pasta you prefer.
Cooking the pasta:
Bring a pan of salted water to boil to which you will add the pasta. Fresh pasta cooks in just a
few minutes, averaging 2-5 minutes, depending on the thickness. Stir gently and then drain the
pasta once it has finished cooking.
Variations to procedure:
For each variable, we used 100 grams of flour and 1 egg. Originally for trial 1, Variable 2 was to
be made with 50% soy flour, but the dough was too dry and tough to be put through the pasta
machine. So for the last two trials, we used 40% soy flour for Variable 2. For rolling the dough,
we used setting 7 to roll the dough out. We also added olive oil to the cooking water to prevent
sticking. After cooking the pasta was mixed with a store-brand spaghetti sauce before given to
tasters.
After the preparation of the pasta, it tested objectively with the texture analyzer and Hunter
Colorimeter, and subjectively with a sensory panel, using a triangle test and ranking.
Texture analyzer procedure:
The Stable Micro Systems Texture Analyzer was used. The procedure was obtained from The
Food Chemistry Laboratory Manual, CM Weaver and J R Daniel, 2003, pages 127-129. We used
the knife probe when performing tests.
Hunter Colorimeter procedure:
The procedure for this equipment was also obtained from The Food Chemistry Laboratory
Manual.
Sensory Evaluation:
Each pasta was assigned a random 3-digit number and placed randomly. A random sampling of
semi-trained people tasted the pasta and filled out a sensory scorecard, giving their opinions.
Following is the sensory scorecard given to the panelists who taste-tested the pasta.

Beth Bessler
Mary Reher
F&N 453

Please check the boxes that describe your preference of each sample.

Sample 452

Dislike
extremely
Dislike
very
much
Dislike
moderately
Dislike
slightly
Neither
dislike
nor like
Like
slightly
Like
moderately
Like
very
much
Like
extremely


Sample 230

Dislike
extremely
Dislike
very
much
Dislike
moderately
Dislike
slightly
Neither
dislike
nor like
Like
slightly
Like
moderately
Like
very
much
Like
extremely


Sample 305

Dislike
extremely
Dislike
very
much
Dislike
moderately
Dislike
slightly
Neither
dislike
nor like
Like
slightly
Like
moderately
Like
very
much
Like
extremely


Rating Scale:
Rate samples (452, 230, 305) for texture against the descriptive terms below.

Extremely soft
Very soft
Moderately soft
Slightly soft
Neither soft not hard
Slightly hard
Moderately hard
Very hard
Extremely hard


Beth Bessler
Mary Reher
F&N 453

Discussion:
Because of its health benefits, as well as economic significance, incorporation of soy
flour into pasta is of great interest. The pasta must have acceptable texture, color and taste
preference.
Sensory evaluation results are summarized in Tables 1 and 2, as well as Figures 1 and 2.
As shown in Table 1, the pasta prepared with 40% soy flour was preferred over the other
variations. Table 2 and Figure 2 shows that the texture of the pasta with 100% wheat flour was
preferred slightly over the texture of the pastas made with soy flour.
The results from the texture analyzer are shown in Table 3 and Figure 3. The pasta with
100% wheat flour had the highest breaking strength. Because of the small standard deviation,
the line of error in Figure 3 is very small. According to a study of pasta made with sweet potato
and soy protein, the soy decreased the firmness of the pasta (Limroongreungrat 2005).
Color is an important characteristic of perceived pasta quality. Consumers prefer bright
yellow translucent pasta products (Ugarcic-Hardi 2003). The pasta in this test showed no
significant variance in color, as seen in Table 4 and Figure 4.
The take-home message of this experiment is that soy flour can be used to partially
replace wheat flour in pasta without significantly impacting texture, color, and flavor. Further
work could be done to improve the texture of pasta made with soy flour so that it is more
comparable to pasta made with wheat flour.

Results:
Table1:AverageSubjectiveAnalysisScoresofFlavorPreferenceofEachSampleContainingVarying
AmountsofSoyFlour.TheScaleWasa9PointScale,1BeingDislikedExtremelyand9BeingLiked
Extremely.All3trials.
Averagesofall3trials STDDeviation
30gsoyflour 4.7 1.093
40gsoyflour 7.3 1.118
100gwheatflour 6.0 1.581

Beth Bessler
Mary Reher
F&N 453

Figure 1: Average Preference Ranking According to the Subjective Tests Compared


Among Varying Soy Flour Substitutes in Pasta: Trials 1, 2, & 3








Table 2: Average Subjective Analysis Scores of Texture Preference of Each Sample
Containing Varying Amounts of Soy Flour. The Scale was a 9 point Scale, 1 Being
Extremely Soft and 9 Being Extremely Hard

Averages of all 3 trials STD Deviation
30g 5.2 0.8333
40g 3 1.118
100g 5.8 1.054



0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
30g 40g 100g
F
l
a
v
o
r

P
r
e
f
e
r
e
n
c
e

(
1

L
i
k
e

S
c
a
l
e
)
Variables
AveragePreferenceRankings
Beth Bessler
Mary Reher
F&N 453



Figure 2: Average Texture Preference Rating According to the Subjective Tests Compared
Among Varying Soy Flour Substitutes in Pasta. Trials 1, 2, & 3



Table 3: Average Texture Analyzer Values for All Three Trials

Average Values (g) STD Deviation
30g 231.6g 1.150
40g 250.6 0.9074
100g 282.2 0.4509

0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
30g 40g 100g
T
e
x
t
u
r
e

P
r
e
f
e
r
e
n
c
e

R
a
t
i
n
g

(
1

S
o
f
t
n
e
s
s

S
c
a
l
e
)
Variables
AverageTexturePreferenceRating
Beth Bessler
Mary Reher
F&N 453



Figure 3: Texture Analyzer Force among Varying Soy Flour Substitutes in Pasta. Averages
of Trial 1, 2, & 3.



Table 4: Average Colorimeter Values for Trials 1, 2, & 3

L a B
30g 46.84 5.2 18.43
40g 39.59 4.94 17.15
100g 47.63 4.2 17.79
STD Deviation 4.431 0.518 0.640

0
50
100
150
200
250
300
30g 40g 100g
F
o
r
c
e

(
g
)
Variables
AverageTextureAnalyzerForce(g)
Beth Bessler
Mary Reher
F&N 453



Figure 4: Average Colorimeter Values Among Varying Soy Flour Substitutes in Pasta:
Trials 1, 2, & 3














0
10
20
30
40
50
60
30g 40g 100g
C
o
l
o
r
i
m
e
t
e
r

V
a
l
u
e
s
Variables
AverageColorimeterValues
L
a
b
Beth Bessler
Mary Reher
F&N 453

References:
Baiano, Antonietta; Terracone, Carmela; Gambacorta, Giuseppe; La Notte, Ennio. 2009.
Evaluation of isoflavone content and antioxidant activity of soy-wheat pasta. International
Journal of Food Science and Technology. 44(7): 1304-1313.

Brouns, Fred. 2002. "Soya isoflavones: a new and promising ingredient for the health foods
sector." Food Research International. 35(2-3): 187-93.

Dhingra, Shfali; J ood, Sudesh. 2002. Organoleptic and nutritional evaluation of wheat breads
supplemented with soybean and barley flour. Food Chemistry. 77(4): 479-488.

Limroongreungrat, Kullaya; Huang, Yao-Wen. 2005. Pasta products made from sweet potato
fortified with soy protein. Food Science and Technology.40(2): 200-206.

Mohamed, AA; Rayas-Duarte, P; Shogren RL; Sessa, DJ . 2006. Low carbohydrates bread:
Formulation, processing and sensory quality. Food Chemistry. 99 (4): 686-692.

Ugarcic-Hardi, Z; Hackenberger, D; Subaric, D; Hardi, J . 2003. " Effect of Soy, Maize and
Extruded Maize Flour Addition on Physical and Sensory Characteristics of Pasta." Italian
Journal of Food Science. 15 (2): 277-87.

Umphress, ST; Murphy, SP; Franke, AA; Custer, LJ ; Blitz, CL. 2005. "Isoflavone content of
foods with soy additives." Journal of Food Composition and Analysis. 18 (6): 533-50.

Weaver, Connie and Daniel, J ames. The Food Chemistry Laboratory-A Manual for
Experiemental Foods, Dietetics and Food Scientists. CRC Press (2
nd
Edition): 111-112, 127-
129.

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