# Development and Characterization of High-Fiber, Gluten-Free Pasta for Celiac Disease Patients
## 3 Results and Discussion
### Chemical Composition of the Pasta Treatments
#### 3.1.7 Color Properties of Pasta  
Color is one of the most important quality attributes influencing consumer food choices, perceptions, and purchase behavior. The effects of the gluten-free pasta formulation on color measurements were assessed and are presented in Table 8.  
Changes in the color of the pasta (\(\Delta\)E) were determined relative to the control sample, which is taken as a reference. The L*, a*, and b* color coordinates represent lightness/darkness, redness/greenness, and yellowness/blueness, respectively. The L*, a*, and b* values of the control and gluten-free pasta treatments showed that the ranges of pasta color for L*, a*, and b* were 42.17 to 31.22, \(-0.78\) to \(-6.86\), and 39.52 to 19.08, respectively. \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c c c c c} \hline \hline \multirow{2}{*}{**Treatment**} & \multicolumn{2}{c}{**L (Lightness) *} & \multicolumn{2}{c}{**a (Redness) *} & \multicolumn{2}{c}{**B (Yellowness) *} & \multicolumn{2}{c}{**\(\Delta\)E**} & \\ \cline{2-9}  & **Mean** & \(\pm\)**SE** & **Mean** & \(\pm\)**SE** & **Mean** & \(\pm\)**SE** & **Mean** & \(\pm\)**SE** \\ \hline Control & 42.17 \({}^{\text{a}}\) & \(\pm\)1.57 & \(-6.86\)\({}^{\text{c}}\) & \(\pm\)0.62 & 26.66 \({}^{\text{d}}\) & \(\pm\)0.53 & - & - \\ \hline T1 & 33.42 \({}^{\text{c}}\) & \(\pm\)1.67 & \(-6.46\)\({}^{\text{bc}}\) & \(\pm\)0.54 & 19.08 \({}^{\text{f}}\) & \(\pm\)0.58 & 17.30 \({}^{\text{bc}}\) & \(\pm\)1.73 \\ \hline T2 & 34.43 \({}^{\text{bc}}\) & \(\pm\)1.58 & \(-6.46\)\({}^{\text{bc}}\) & \(\pm\)0.68 & 23.04 \({}^{\text{e}}\) & \(\pm\)1.21 & 12.89 \({}^{\text{c}}\) & \(\pm\)1.69 \\ \hline T3 & 31.22 \({}^{\text{c}}\) & \(\pm\)1.73 & \(-5.15\)\({}^{\text{bc}}\) & \(\pm\)0.59 & 26.55 \({}^{\text{d}}\) & \(\pm\)1.68 & 15.38 \({}^{\text{bc}}\) & \(\pm\)2.19 \\ \hline T4 & 31.54 \({}^{\text{c}}\) & \(\pm\)2.08 & \(-4.92\)\({}^{\text{b}}\) & \(\pm\)1.24 & 30.94 \({}^{\text{c}}\) & \(\pm\)0.42 & 17.72 \({}^{\text{b}}\) & \(\pm\)2.04 \\ \hline T5 & 38.52 \({}^{\text{ab}}\) & \(\pm\)0.56 & \(-0.78\)\({}^{\text{a}}\) & \(\pm\)0.25 & 35.43 \({}^{\text{b}}\) & \(\pm\)0.67 & 18.54 \({}^{\text{b}}\) & \(\pm\)0.99 \\ \hline T6 & 31.33 \({}^{\text{c}}\) & \(\pm\)1.41 & \(-0.76\)\({}^{\text{a}}\) & \(\pm\)0.28 & 39.52 \({}^{\text{a}}\) & \(\pm\)1.68 & 29.82 \({}^{\text{a}}\) & \(\pm\)0.84 \\ \hline LSD & 4.52 & & 3.13 & & 3.13 & & 4.79 \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table} 
Table 8: Color evaluation of different gluten-free pasta treatments and the control. Our results found that color parameters (L*, a*, b*) significantly changed between the control and gluten-free pasta treatments. The difference in color characteristics may be attributed to the differences in colored pigment in the flours, which in turn depend on the biological origin of the plant [33]. The differences in color values among the pasta treatments may be due to the variation in percentage of the composite flour for each treatment due to the natural coloring component of composite flour [11]. The color of wheat pasta (control) differs from all the gluten-free pasta treatments with higher brightness (L* = 42.17) and higher greenness (a = -6.86). This could be due to the high levels of naturally occurring carotenoids (mainly b-carotene and zeaxanthin) in the lupin flour content [12], which resulted in a darker product (with lower L* values) as compared with the control. In addition, flaxseed flour had a significant effect on the color of the gluten-free pasta treatments. The lightness (L* value) of the gluten-free pasta decreased as the flaxseed flour concentration increased. The darker color of the gluten-free pasta treatments may be attributed to the higher content of ash and the specific color of the legume flour [11]. Regarding the a* values, which are associated with redness/greenness, the control pasta sample and gluten-free pasta treatments tend to have a greenish color because of the addition of dried Moringa leaf powder, which reflects its natural green color, which could be due to the mixture of chlorophyll [34].