Six gluten-free spaghetti typologies in base of amaranthus flour were produced, using two types of gluten substitutes, carboxymethylcellulose sodium salt (CMC) at three different percentages, 0.1% (LCMC), 0.2% (MCMC), 0.3% (HCMC) and pregelatinized corn starch (PCS) at three different percentages, 5% (LPCS), 7% (MPCS), 9% (HPCS). The amaranthus spaghetti were compared with a control spaghetti sample of durum semolina (CTRL). We ran some tests on the samples to determine breakage susceptibility by water sorption kinetics, cooking loss, the cooking resistance by fitting the values of elastic modulus, instrumental stickiness and sensory analysis. The spaghetti obtained from amaranthus flour containing CMC and PCS showed breakage susceptibility higher than that of the CTRL, while they showed a cooking resistance equal or lower with respect to the CTRL. The spaghetti with CMC had a lower stickiness, equal values of cooking loss and similar values of sensory attributes with respect to that of the CTRL. For the spaghetti containing PCS, the cooking loss values were higher and the sensorial attributes were lower with respect to that of the CTRL and of the spaghetti containing CMC. Moreover, the stickiness values for the spaghetti samples with PCS increased as the pregelatinized corn starch concentration increased. From the result it emerged that spaghetti samples containing CMC presented better performances especially in cooking with respect to the spaghetti samples with PCS. (c) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.