The shelf life of fresh pasta could be extended by a month with a new twist on packaging.
The shelf life of fresh pasta is between 30 and 90 days. Researchers have been able to extend this to 120 days by taking a triple-pronged approach, including new forms of packaging, a different packaging atmosphere, and the addition of goodbacteria.
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The team says the development could help tackle food waste and bring potential benefits to the economy and the environment.
Scientists in Italy worked with a pasta factory in Altamura to make 144 samples of trofie. A set of 48 samples were packaged in a packaging atmosphere composed of 20% carbon dioxide to 80% nitrogen.
A second set of 48 samples was packaged with a film that was less permeable to water and oxygen and with an atmosphere of 40% carbon dioxide to nitrogen, while the third set of 48 samples also used these new conditions. The samples were kept at a low temperature.
The growth of visible moulds was caused by the growth of carbon dioxide levels in conventionally packaged pasta. Over a 120 day period, the two types of experimental samples had almost stable atmospheres.
By 90 days, the levels of oxygen-hungry microbes had grown in the conventionally packaged pasta samples, but remained stable in both types of experimental samples. The levels were lower in some samples.
While Italian laws dictate some aspects of pasta made in the country, the new approach was fully compliant with the legislation, according to the co-author of the research. The company that collaborated on the study tested it. She said that the study started from the needs of the company.
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While the costs of innovation were considered, and the company involved in the study approved and used the process for its own plant, no feasibility analysis had been done in the long term.
She said that the costs are balanced by the production improvement with the possibility of expanding the sales markets.
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