The
extrusion conditions also in fl uenced the cooking quality of brown
rice pasta. In particular, the positive effect of extrusion-cooking
using brown fl our was evident, even if the differences between
conventional extrusion and extrusion-cooking were less marked
than those with milled rice pasta ( Table 2). The highest extrusion
temperature reduced the cooking loss (from 11.5% to 10%) and
increased the cooked product fi rmness (from 2408.3 N to
4 4 82.7 N). This behavior could be related to the formation of
a polysaccharide network involving starch and non-starch poly-
saccharide molecules. According to Gualberto et al. (1997) , the high
physical stress during the extrusion-cooking reduces the amount of
insoluble fibre. Therefore, the formation of a higher amount of
soluble fi bre af ter the extrusion-cooking could enable a strength-
ening of pasta structure, as supported by Tudorica et al. (20 02) in
durum wheat pasta.