With higher concentrations of DPP, the fresh spaghetti 1 (FS1)
and 3 (FS3) showed more exposed granular structures that were
less involved in EPP (Fig. 3A and C). In FS2, which had the largest
concentration of EPP and an AF close to the maximum value (18 g
100 g1
), the granules appeared more covered by gelatinized
starch, and the pasta showed some perforations on the surface. The
FS4 sample also had gelatinized starch on the granules and had
holes; however, compared to FS2, FS4 had more holes (Fig. 3D). The
micrographs of FS2 and FS4 reinforced the importance of AF on the
quality of the pasta; when the level of AF decreased from 18 to 10 g
100 g1 and the EPP was kept constant at 17 g 100 g1 EPP, the
structure was affected and there was not enough EPP to create a
regular, compact, and fused surface with a network strong enough
to involve the starch granules (Fig. 3B and D, respectively).