Vegetable pasta is a premium product, and its consumption may deliver health benefits by increasing vegetable intake. This study investigated the replacement of semolina with juice, puree, and pomace of spinach and red cabbage. The effect of replacement on chemical composition, cooking performance (cooking loss, swelling index, water absorption), texture quality (elasticity, firmness), and colour was evaluated. The cooking loss of pasta made with spinach juice and spinach puree at 1 g/100 g substitution was the same as the control, while all other samples had a higher cooking loss. Spinach pasta had a higher breaking force but lower breaking distance in the tensile test than the control, while red cabbage pasta had a lower breaking force and breaking distance. Spinach juice fortified pasta was firmer than the control. Red cabbage juice pasta was less firm than other forms of fortified pasta at 1 g/100 g substitution level. Spinach and red cabbage juice are better colorants than puree or pomace as they change the colour of the pasta more dramatically at the same substitution level. Cooking performance and texture quality of spinach juice pasta were better than other samples, which indicates a premium pasta product for the food industry.

This study reports the digestibility and nutritional quality of pasta made from durum wheat semolina which was partially substituted by puree, juice or pomace from spinach and red cabbage. The results show that 10% substitution of semolina with red cabbage pomace and spinach pomace, 1% substitution of spinach juice, and 2% substitution of spinach puree significantly reduced the area under the curve of the in vitro starch digestion. This reduction was due to a combined effect of decreased starch content, increased dietary fibre content and inhibition of α-amylase caused by vegetable material addition. Total phenolic content (TPC) and antioxidant capacity increased significantly on raw, cooked and digested samples of vegetable fortified pasta compared to control. The β-carotene content of spinach pasta (raw, cooked, and digested) was also higher than that of control. At the 1% substitution level, the juice was more efficient in improving the antioxidant capacity of resultant pasta compared to puree or pomace.