Texture analyser for spaghetti and noodle testing

Lloyd Instruments has launched a test fixture designed to meet the quality assessment requirements of spaghetti, pasta and noodles producers. The Spaghetti and Noodle Compression attachment fits the TA1 texture analyser and other machines in the company’s range. It is designed to measure the thickness of cooked spaghetti, pasta and noodles to calculate parameters such as sample compressibility, recovery and springiness, and find the ideal cooking time to ensure an ‘al dente’ product.

The accuracy and ease of use makes the test system suitable for R&D and quality control during food production. A cooked product sample is placed onto the fixture’s lower compression plate; the machine then lowers the upper compression plate via a high-resolution encoder and takes three thickness measurements at two specified loads of 15 gf and 515 gf. Results are stored and analysed in the NEXYGENPlus materials testing software. Additional results are calculated from these three thickness measurements to evaluate sample compressibility and other parameters.

Besides compressibility, the system evaluates product recovery and springiness, and helps manufacturers calculate ideal cooking times, assess ingredients mixes, understand product behaviour after freezing and keep production costs low.

The texture analyser has a large work area and 10 programmable test set-ups. It operates a data sampling rate of 8 kHz and can save up to 600 test results.