World’s thinnest pasta may be next step in nanofibers for medicine

[CRAIG NIGRELLI]

THE NEWEST PASTA ON EARTH IS ALSO THE WORLD’S THINNEST SPAGHETTI. THE PASTA WAS RECENTLY CREATED – NOT IN A MICHELIN-STAR RESTAURANT IN PARIS – OR ANY PLACE LIKE IT – BUT BY A RESEARCH TEAM IN ENGLAND.

THE SPAGHETTI – MEASURING JUST 372 NANOMETERS ACROSS AND  ABOUT 200 TIMES THINNER THAN A HUMAN HAIR – WAS NOT MADE TO BE THE NEXT DIET FAD.

IN A NEW PAPER PUBLISHED IN THE JOURNAL “NANOSCALE ADVANCES,” THE RESEARCH TEAM FROM UNIVERSITY COLLEGE  LONDON SAYS IT WAS CREATED BECAUSE OF

THE QUOTE “WIDE-RANGING USES THAT EXTREMELY THIN STRANDS OF MATERIAL, CALLED NANOFIBERS, HAVE IN MEDICINE AND INDUSTRY.”

THEY SAY THESE NANOFIBERS THAT ARE MADE OF STARCH ARE ESPECIALLY PROMISING AND COULD BE USED IN THE FUTURE IN BANDAGES TO AID WOUND HEALING, AS SCAFFOLDING FOR BONE REGENERATION AND FOR DRUG DELIVERY.

THE NANOPASTA WAS MADE FROM A TECHNIQUE CALLED ELECTROSPINNING – SEEN IN THIS VIDEO FROM NANOSCIENCE INSTRUMENTS. THE LONDON RESEARCHERS DESCRIBE ELECTROSPINNING AS A PROCESS IN WHICH THREADS OF FLOUR AND LIQUID ARE PULLED THROUGH THE TIP OF A NEEDLE BY AN ELECTRIC CHARGE.

THIS SPAGHETTI IS A PASTA WITH ONE INTERESTING ORIGIN – BUT AS CBS NEWS TOLD VIEWERS IN 20-12 – MANY OTHER KINDS OF PASTA HAVE BACKSTORIES THAT COME WITH A TWIST.

“Tortellini, legend has it, was modeled after a certain anatomical feature of one of the most famous women of the Italian Renaissance, Lucrezia Borgia.

“The tale is that Lucrezia Borgia stopped overnight for a romantic tryst in an inn and the innkeeper was a bit besotted with her. He went up to snoop on her room, he looked through the through the keyhole and all he could see was her navel. So he ran downstairs and made a bust on it.”

“That’s fantastic.”

THEN THERE’S CASCATELLI– THE PASTA SHAPE CREATED BY JAMES-BEARD AWARD-WINNING PODCASTER DAN PASHMAN.

IT TOOK HIM THREE YEARS – AS CHRONICLED ON HIS PODCAST THE SPORKFUL – TO COME UP WITH HIS DREAM PASTA THAT HE CONSIDERS TO BE THE PERFECT SHAPE FOR HOLDING SAUCE, PICKING UP WITH A FORK AND JUST EATING.

“That’s right, I invented a new shape of pasta called cascatelli. Go ahead take a look. I especially designed it to hold a ton of sauce the space in between these ridges I call that the sauce trough, right in there holds a ton of sauce all kind of special textures.”

CASCATELLI – WHICH MEANS “WATERFALL” IN ITALIAN – WAS NAMED ONE OF TIME MAGAZINE’S TOP 100 INVENTIONS OF 20-21.

THE PASTA IS BEING SOLD BY COMPANIES INCLUDING SFOGLINI, TRADER JOE’S AND BANZA’S CHICKPEA VERSION.

ACCORDING TO THE AUGUSTE ESCOFFIER SCHOOL OF CULINARY ARTS THERE ARE OVER 350 TYPES OF PASTA SHAPES OUT THERE.

AND NOW THANKS TO RESEARCHERS IN LONDON – THERE’S NOW ONE MORE.

BUT LET’S REMEMBER THAT NANO-PASTA SPAGHETTI IS NOT MEANT FOR DIGESTING.

AS PROFESSOR GARETH WILLIAMS, CO-AUTHOR OF THE UNIVERSITY’S STUDY SAYS QUOTE  “I DON’T THINK IT’S USEFUL AS PASTA, SADLY — AS IT WOULD OVERCOOK IN LESS THAN A SECOND, BEFORE YOU COULD TAKE IT OUT OF THE PAN.”

FOR STRAIGHT ARROW NEWS, I’M CRAIG NIGRELLI.

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