Available online at http://journal-of-agroalimentary.ro Journal of Agroalimentary Processes and Technologies 2015, 21(3), 293-295 Journal of Agroalimentary Processes and Technologies ______________________________________________ Corresponding author: e-mail: bogdan_radoi@yahoo.com Considerations for developing a generalized model to produce and characterize pasta with high nutritional value Petru Bogdan Rădoi 1* , Daniela Stoin 1 , Ersilia Alexa 1 , Georgiana Olteanu 2 , Iovan Minodora 1 , Teodor – Ioan Trașcă 1 1 Faculty of Food Processing, Banat’s University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine ‘’King Michael I of Romania’’ from Timisoara, 300645 – Timişoara, Calea Aradului 119, Romania 2 Faculty of Agriculture, Banat’s University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine ‘’King Michael I of Romania’’ from Timisoara, 300645 – Timişoara, Calea Aradului 119, Romania Received: 06 September 2015; Accepted: 30 September 2015 ____________________________________________________________________________________ Abstract Innovation is one that delivers solutions to food security challenges (www.cgiar.org, Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research, CGIAR). Food security is a component of the concept of nutrition security (www.ifad.org, The International Fund for Agricultural Development, IFAD). In this context, the aim of our study was to elaborate a generalized model to produce new functional pasta with high nutritional value, as safe food, nutritionally optimized [7, 8]. Keywords: pasta, nutritional value, functional food ______________________________________________________________________________________ 1. Introduction Food security means ensuring human needs for both calories and nutrients, for optimal health. The major theme globally addressed at the Global Forum for Innovation in Agriculture (Abu Dhabi, February 3 th , 2014) and at the summit "Feeding the World" ("Food for mankind", February 15, 2014) was: sustainable solutions to the global crisis [7, 8]. Agricultural research for development is the engine that drives innovation. The statistics for the future are alarming: in 2050, Earth's population will reach nine billion people. Population growth, migration from rural to urban areas and climate change are factors that increase pressure on food production, without destroying the planet. And this food must be not only quantity sufficient to provide the necessary calories for daily consumption, but also has nutritional value [7, 8]. The George Mateljan Foundation (www. whfoods.com, The World's Healthiest Foods), tooks into account the existing food and classified top 100 considered the healthiest food, based on the following criterias: nutrient density (rich source of essential nutrients for health / optimal diet). Density is a measure of the nutritional intake of the nutrient in a food compared to the calories. A food is more dense in nutrients if the nutrient level is higher relative to the number of calories. The concept of "nutrient density" determines which food has high nutritional value; complex food (the healthiest foods are complex in terms of natural wealth in nutrients; they have not been obtained by high processing and do not contain synthetic, artificial or irradiated elements); familiar food (the healthiest foods must be shared daily, and a healthy diet should include fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts and seeds, meat without fat, fish, olive oil, herbs and spices, familiar