In order to produce spaghetti with reduced calories, the possibility of replacing wheat bran (WB) and processed wheat bran (PWB), as well as xanthan gum at levels of 1 and 2% with flour, was investigated, and its technological, structural, texture, sensory and nutritional characteristics were evaluated. By replacing the bran, the ash content in spaghetti increased (at least 6.9 times). The results showed that the replacement of bran was associated with a significant reduction in the spaghetti water uptake so that the least water uptake was observed in samples containing wheat bran and without xanthan (less than 70.3 units). Cooking loss in spaghetti contains PWB increased sharply (almost 3 times), while adding xanthan did not improve it. Replacing bran significantly reduced the optimal cooking time of spaghetti compared to the control. The firmness of spaghetti strings increased with replacing bran while the presence of xanthan reduced it. The lightness of cooked and raw spaghetti was strongly influenced by the bran content and tended to darken. Sensory evaluation results showed less overall acceptance of bran-containing samples due to reduced color, flavor, elasticity, firmness, bulkiness, gumminess, stickiness, and integrity scores, while increasing xanthan in most samples caused to improving these properties, leading to increase overall acceptance. Results of nutritional characteristics showed a lower glycemic index and calorie (more than 25%) of bran-containing samples.

Novelty impact statement

Spaghetti as a popular cereal food has high calories. A combination of soluble (xanthan gum) and insoluble (processed and unprocessed wheat bran) fibers reduced the glycaemic index and calorie (more than 25%) in spaghetti samples and create spaghetti with acceptable cooking and microstructural properties. Processing of wheat bran led to a decline in technological characteristics in spaghetti samples.