Pasta enriched whit de-oiled wheat “germ” as an innovative functional food

Background: Pasta is a key component of Mediterranean diet, is a cereal-based food ideal for affordability, palatability, and nutritional quality. Also, wheat germ is one of the most important by-products of the milling industry. We compared several properties of 5 types of pasta looking for an ideal functional food. Methods: Batches of pasta consisted of (1) control (water and semolina dough with the addition of integral-like colouring agent) (CP) and dried pastas with addition of (2) 30% de-oiled durum wheat “germ” (EP1); (3) 30% “bran” de-oiled wheat (EP2); (4) 27% de-oiled wheat “germ” plus 6% microencapsulated durum wheat “oil” (EP3); and (5) 27% de-oiled wheat “bran” plus 6% microencapsulated durum wheat “oil” (EP4). We performed chemical characterization, assay of total phenols and antioxidant activity, simulated digestion prior to faecal microbiota fermentation, and in vivo palatability cooking test. Results: Carbohydrates and protein content was similar, while fibre content was higher across all EPs, compared to CP. EPs had significantly higher concentration of total phenols and an improved scavenging activity than CPs. EP1 and EP3 had the highest (p < 0.05) values of both phenols and scavenging activity with a trend for EP3 for highest values. In vitro, EP1 and EP3 showed an increased viability and density of various gut microbial patterns, in particular lactic acid bacteria and bifidobacteria. The palatability study showed that 9 min cooking time was ideal to disclose the highest score in EP1 and EP3. Conclusions: We explored the health promoting properties featuring the innovative pasta containing de-oiled wheat “germ”. Starting from the promising outcomes from in vitro assays, especially EP1 and EP3 deserve further studies in vivo as novel functional foods supporting healthy properties.