Pasta Production

Abstract

Pasta can best be defined as the generic term for a class of products made by forming unleavened dough into a variety of shapes and drying them from 28-30% to 12-13% moisture. Pasta products have been known in Europe for a long time but are also popular now in the United States, South America and other countries. Today, there are more than 250 types of pasta products of various shapes and sizes on the world market. In some countries such as Italy, pasta products have become a staple food. Pasta can be used as a side dish instead of rice or potatoes or as a main course e. g. spaghetti. While Italy is the country in which pasta products have attained their greatest popularity, it appears that their manufacture and use may have originated in China.