The influence of addition of Borago officinalis with antibacterial activity on the sensory quality of fresh pasta

Borage (Borago officinalis L.) is a herbaceous plant of the Boraginaceae family cultivated throughout the world for several purposes, including food preparations, mainly beverages and salads. Some Italian recipes use borage as a food ingredient, in particular as condiment for pasta. The aqueous extract (AE) from borage leaves can act as biopreservative in foods due to its inhibition towards the main foodborne pathogen bacteria. Fresh pasta, due to the high content of water, is a food product with a limited shelf life. In order to test the suitability of borage to produce fresh pasta with a prolonged shelf life, borage AE was used in dried form as a raw material for the production of tagliatelle pasta. Pasta produced with fresh borage was used as green tagliatelle control, while pasta produced without borage was used as white tagliatelle control. The colour of the three tagliatelle pasta types was different. A sensory panel was used to test the appreciation of these products prepared following three recipes with Sicilian ingredients. Both pastas produced with borage were preferred to control pasta with any preparation based on cheese, meat or fish as principal flavour ingredient. The present study demonstrated the suitability of borage AE as natural preservative for fresh pasta production.