Neutron scattering explains why gluten-free pasta falls apart (2025)
71 points
2 days ago
| 10 comments
| phys.org
| HN
bokkies
3 hours ago
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There are some corn/rice pastas that are pretty close to the real deal. Sure a seasoned pasta officianado could tell the difference, but we have gluten intolerant in the house so predominantly eat gluten free pastas. Never had a visitor or kids friends complaining (and kids will complain about anything). Happily chow down. There are also some pretty good grain free varieties made from tapioca and egg, we get lasagne sheets that are approved of by the only real Italian I known, they maintain the chewy/rubbery texture of lasagne well.
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mapt
1 hour ago
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You don't need the wheat protein 'gluten' to make pasta at all.

You do need some kind of protein. Carbohydrate hydration is a reversible process whose other endpoint is a solution, while (most) protein coagulation is a non-reversible polymerization process that creates an insoluble matrix. The less protein is available, the easier it is to "overcook" pasta into goop and then a starchy beverage. You see it in cooking the two common varieties of 'normal pasta' already - egg durum wheat pasta has more protein than pure durum wheat pasta, and is much harder to overcook.

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Avshalom
50 minutes ago
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I buy Jovial which is a just straight brown rice flour and as long as you cook it right (which in Albuquerque is a problem with wheat pasta too) it's great.
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agoose77
2 hours ago
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Yeah, the Rummo Gluten Free pasta is just on another level in the UK vs the own-brand stuff. Thank goodness!
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GordonS
2 hours ago
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Rummo is pretty good, but you have to cook it just right - a minute either side, and it's either grainy or falls apart as a soggy mess.

Still, gluten-free pasta has come a long way.

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code_duck
48 minutes ago
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"Gluten free pasta" is not an adequate description. It's defining a food product by what it is not made out of. I assume they mean chickpea, or one of the kinds that's a blend with quinoa, because corn or brown rice pasta is actually much more resilient than gluten pasta. You can cook the rice pasta far overtime and it does not fall apart. Chickpea pasta disintegrates, though. Anyway, not to distract from the real topic.
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virtualritz
35 minutes ago
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"Materials

Two types of spaghetti (regular No. 5 and gluten-free) produced by the Barilla company (Italy) were purchased in a supermarket."

Are you kidding me? You did a study and tested /one/ kind of gluten-free pasta?

There are so many different kinds from different companies. One type from Barilla is nowhere near representative to draw a useful conclusion.

Especially as unlike many other gluten-free pasta products it lacks an important binding agent.[1]

As someone with a gluten-allergic partner I regularly make pancakes and bake bread with (Italian!) rice-based flour.

And they are difficult to distinguish from the flour based ones, in taste, texture, fluffiness and and structural integrity.

The secret to this is xantham gum. It acts as a binding agent in gluten-free baking, providing the elasticity and stickiness that gluten typically offers. It helps to hold ingredients together and improve the texture.

I learned this when eating excellent gluten-free pinza, in a small place in Catania, Sicily, whose owner has celiac disease.

Ah yes, as far as pasta goes there is also research about this ofc[2]

[1] https://www.barilla.com/en-us/products/pasta/gluten-free/glu...

[2] "Incorporation of xanthan gum to gluten-free pasta with cassava starch. Physical, textural and sensory attributes"

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S00236...

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MiracleRabbit
3 hours ago
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Reminds me a bit of the research dept of the company I'm working for.

If they have too much free time they put much weirdo stuff into their devices just to see what.. happens.

They have a spectacular collection of crystals scanned.

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hunterpayne
5 hours ago
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This might be the most Italian thing I have ever read.
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fnordpiglet
6 hours ago
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God bless science
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analog31
6 hours ago
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God bless gluten. ;-)
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wk_end
6 hours ago
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Indeed, blessed by His noodly appendage.
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logifail
5 hours ago
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I and two of my three kids have coeliac(0), so we may have to disagree on that!

Can confirm that various GF alternatives really don't come close to the originals. Without the gluten things seem to be too "biscuity"...

0) Third child positive for "predisposition to coeliac" on a genetic test, but no symptoms and an endoscopy was negative too. Let's see.

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luqtas
5 hours ago
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gotta try the combo VEGAN + CELIAC hehehe

i literally gave up from Brazilian industrialized/processed food a long time ago :D

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throw310822
2 hours ago
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There's a reason it's called gluten.

From Middle French gluten, borrowed from Latin glūten (“glue”).

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SV_BubbleTime
6 hours ago
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> cooked in D20

Of all the options for heavy water, deuterium oxide, 2H2O, D2O… the latter is my least favorite because every time my inclination is to try and think of what element D is on the periodic table.

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throw567643u8
4 hours ago
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> Greg Smith from ISIS as well as collaborators

Didn't know ISIS gave a hoot about gluten free.

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Traubenfuchs
4 hours ago
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Gluten free pasta is the same kind of oxymoron as lactose free cow milk. Might look the same at first glance but absolutely fails at replicating the most important property: taste. And here we have scientists proving it‘s worse in other aspects as well.
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Klonoar
1 hour ago
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Removing lactose from things is largely solved at this point. If you’re experiencing an unfortunate taste you should try a different brand; the Lactaid brand (which is what everyone seems to know of) isn’t great.
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tigermafia
2 hours ago
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Not true. There is brilliant gluten free pasta out there which tastes very good and most importantly holds sauces well - which is one of the most important properties of pasta. I assume you just have never attempted to substitute properly before making bold claims. Or your cooking is lacking so I lean towards ignorance + skill issue.
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Avshalom
55 minutes ago
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Rice and buckwheat noodles have a long and distinguished history.
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