White flour may be directly electrospun, providing a starch nanofiber alternative which avoids unnecessary industrial extraction and purification. By dissolving 17 wt% flour in warm formic acid and cooling, a dope can be created which can be electrospun into porous mats of 372 nm fibers of pasta.

Scientists have broken the record for the world’s thinnest pasta with a new “nanopasta” that measures just 372 nanometers, which is 200 times thinner than a strand of human hair. Britton, Beatrice et al.

“By dissolving 17 wheat flour in warm formic acid and cooling, a dope can be created which can be electrospun into porous mats of 372 nm fibers of pasta,” said researchers led by Beatrice Britton of University College London. “The pasta was made by applying an electric charge to a starch solution which is ejected towards a grounded substrate while drying during flight.”

    • OtterOPEnglish
      6•1 month ago

      In all seriousness, this was the conclusion:

      In conclusion, the electrospinning of wheat flour is possible from formic acid solutions, after ageing at 32 °C and cooling, forming mats of nanofibers with diameters of 372 (±138) nm. The formed mats are hydrophilic, and ideally positioned as a cheaper, greener replacement for starch in biodegradable, biosourced nanofiber applications, such as next generation bandaging, or carbonized supercapacitor electrodes. Additionally, as the newly developed material consists of fibers formed from the extrusion and drying of flour, it may be defined as pasta, dramatically undercutting the previous record for the thinnest pasta lunga by approximately a thousand times.