Corn fiber gum added to pasta and its effects on cooking and starch digestion
What it found
Adding corn fiber gum to pasta raised its fiber content, changed its texture, and slowed starch breakdown in lab tests.
Tasters rated the overall acceptance about the same but noticed a drop in taste at higher amounts.
What they found
Studies in people
Taste test results
People tasting the pasta found no major difference in overall acceptance. However, they rated the taste lower when more corn fiber gum was used.
Animal and lab studies
Slower starch breakdown
In lab digestion tests, adding corn fiber gum led to much less sugar released from starch. The pasta with 6 g per 100 g broke down the slowest.
Other findings
Fiber and cooking changes
Adding corn fiber gum raised total dietary fiber from 2 to 6%. The best cooking time went from 8 to 10 min. Water absorption and cooking loss both dropped, reaching their lowest points at the 6 g per 100 g level.
Texture became harder
Pasta got harder, rising from 47 to 66 g, and gummier as more corn fiber gum was added. Cohesiveness and chewiness went down at the higher amounts.
Protein structure shifted
Lab scans showed that corn fiber gum changed the protein shape in the pasta. It lowered one type of protein fold while raising two others.
What the authors conclude
- They suggest corn fiber gum is a useful ingredient for making pasta with more fiber and slower starch digestion.
- They note that flavor needs improvement so shoppers will accept it.
- They say these findings could support future work on foods designed to have a low glycemic index.
How it was done
The authors wanted to see if corn fiber gum could be used to make pasta with more fiber and better digestive properties.
They made pasta with corn fiber gum added at 2, 4, and 6 g per 100 g. They measured how it cooked, its texture, its protein structure, and how fast starch broke down in lab tests. They also had people taste it.
What it can’t tell you
- We summarised it from the abstract only.
- Lab digestion tests cannot show exactly how this pasta breaks down in a human stomach.
- The taste test does not reveal long term eating habits or health outcomes.
Who paid
- Conflicts
- Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
- Authors work at
- Tarbiat Modares University, Iran
The paper
- Title
- Corn fiber gum-enriched pasta: Impacts on cooking quality, texture, and in vitro starch digestibility
- Type
- Study
- Evidence
- Studies in people · animals · lab
- Summarised from
- Abstract only
- Cite
- Karimi A, Anvar A, Ghandehari Yazdi AP, Gavlighi HA (2026). Corn fiber gum-enriched pasta: Impacts on cooking quality, texture, and in vitro starch digestibility. International journal of biological macromolecules. doi:10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2026.151023PubMed 41722803DOI
Summary written 30 Sep 2026. Check it against the paper before it changes what you eat. How we summarise papers · Report an error