At the University College London (UCL), scientists have achieved what’s being dubbed the world’s thinnest spaghetti, remarkably spinning white flour and transforming it onto fibers measuring less than one thousandth of a millimeter thick. Yes, you heard it right! This delicate creation, known affectionately as "nanopasta," presents itself as more than just another culinary experiment.
Professor Gareth Williams, one of the leading researchers involved, made it clear; this pasta is not destined for dinner plates. “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,” he explained. Instead, this creation aims to address some medical needs, embodying the promise of innovative material science.
The enthusiasm for this tiny noodle goes beyond its size. Williams, alongside his colleagues, believes it holds immense potential as a medical material. “Nanofibers, such as those made of starch, show potential for use in wound dressings as they are very porous,” he elaborates. This porosity can help facilitate moisture retention and serve as microbial barriers—making them excellent candidates for healing applications.
After all, they’re not just fibers; they bring unique benefits, mimicking the extracellular matrix, which naturally supports cell growth. According to Williams, “in addition, nanofibers are being explored for use as scaffolds to regrow tissue, as they mimic the extracellular matrix—a network of proteins and other molecules—affecting how cells build and support themselves.”
The quest for creating these extremely thin pasta strands stemmed from researchers investigating alternatives to traditional starch extraction processes. Producing nanofibers typically involves extracting starch from plants; yet, this involves considerable energy and water consumption. The research team’s motivation centered around achieving sustainability. “The second largest source of biomass on Earth, behind cellulose, is starch. It is biodegradable, which means it can be broken down within the body,” said Dr. Adam Clancy, another key member of the research team.
Instead of purifying starch, the researchers innovatively turned to white flour, aiming to cut down on processing by using it as the primary ingredient for their nanopasta. Their findings documented in the journal Nanoscale Advances, reveal innovative techniques such as electrospinning—a method where threads of flour and liquid are manipulated through electrically charged needles.
Clancy explains the fascinating electrospinning process, “To make spaghetti, you push a mixture of water and flour through metal holes. We followed the same procedure but used electrical charge to pull the flour mixture through.”
And just how thin is this spaghetti, really? Measuring at 372 nanometers, it’s now considered more than 2,000 times thinner than angel hair pasta, which measures around 0.8 mm thick. For perspective, this minuscule width is comparable to the measurement of some wavelengths of light and is approximately 200 times thinner than human hair, pushing the boundaries of what we typically perceive as material technology.
The creative process involved more than just engineering finesse. It also relied on careful manipulation of environmental conditions. The team utilized warm formic acid instead of water to get the desired viscosity and consistency for the flour mix. This formic acid effectively disrupts large starch molecules, something akin to how cooking affects starches to make them more digestible.
After mixing, the formic acid evaporates as the mixture takes flight through the air to create thin strands on the metal plate below. Dr. Clancy emphasized their focus on the environmental aspect, noting, “We’ve shown we can make nanofibers using flour, but the next step is to discover how quickly these fibers disintegrate and interact with human cells.”
The visual appearance of the nanopasta is fascinating. Despite forming mats of nanofibers about 2 cm wide overall, the individual strands are so fine they can’t be clearly captured by optical methods and require sophisticated electron microscopy.
The world of pasta has previously seen another known contender for thinnest pasta—the traditional Sardinian "su filindeu," or “threads of God.” Still, at approximately 400 microns wide, this pasta is significantly thicker than UCL’s new creation.
Britton, who spearheaded this project for her master’s thesis, expressed her excitement about the iterative process of experimentation. “I really enjoyed the iterative process of adjusting the variables and observing how this changed the mixture. It was trial and error, and I didn’t think I would form fibers, but I did. Thank you to Adam and Gareth for being so helpful and ready to answer my questions.”
The tantalizing potential of nanopasta does open doors for future explorations. The researchers are eager to assess the scalability of their method and how well this newfound material can be integrated with the human body. If successful, this innovative approach could redefine medical treatments ranging from wound healing to tissue regeneration.
Future steps could potentially lead to producing these nanofibers at scale, creating widespread applications within the medical field. Yet, as Williams cautions, the primary focus should be on performance. “We would want to know, for example, how quickly it disintegrates, how it interacts with cells, and if you could produce it at scale.”
Closing the loop on this culinary science story, there’s no doubt researchers are advancing our frontier on material use—from kitchen to lab. While you won’t be seeing these ultra-thin creations at your next spaghetti night, the research has started from seemingly mundane ingredients and has taken the concept of “thin” to entirely new levels.
