The world’s thinnest spaghetti, about 200 times thinner than a human hair, has been created by a UCL-led research team.



The spaghetti is not intended to be a new food but was created because of the wide-ranging uses that extremely thin strands¹ of material, called nanofibers, have in medicine and industry.

Nanofibers made of starch² – produced by most green plants to store excess glucose³ – are especially promising⁴ and could be used in bandages to aid wound healing (as the nanofiber mats are highly porous⁵, allowing water and moisture in but keeping bacteria out), as scaffolding for bone regeneration and for drug delivery. However, they rely on starch being extracted from plant cells and purified, a process requiring much energy and water.



A more environmentally friendly method, the researchers say, is to create nanofibers directly from a starch-rich ingredient like flour, which is the basis for pasta.