Scientists in London have created the finest pasta in the world, according to a study published in the journal Advances at the nanoscale. But if you’re hoping to whip up a bowl of cacio e pepe with these ultra thin noodles, you will be disappointed because this pasta is not for eating.

Aptly nicknamed “nanopasta,” these threadlike fibers are 200 times finer than human hair, measuring just 372 nanometers in diameter. For some context, the thinnest pasta known to man, su filindeu, or “son of God,” is 1,000 times thicker than these new noodles.

Experts consider this creation a big step forward in the development of sustainable nanomaterials. Pasta was not created for an excellent pesto dishbut rather as an environmentally friendly approach to making nanofibers that can be used for many different purposes in medicine and other industries.

Traditionally, creating starch nanofibers involved extracting and purifying starch from plant cells. However, this method consumes an excessive amount of energy and water, requiring a more sustainable technique. This new approach uses regular baking flour purchased from a grocery store, potentially a much more sustainable form of creation.

“To make spaghettiyou push a mixture of water and flour through metal holes. In our study, we did the same thing, except we ran our flour mixture with an electrical charge. It’s literally spaghetti but much smaller,” Adam Clancy, co-author of the study, explained of the process.

To manufacture revolutionary nanofibers, scientists used a method called electrospinning, which uses electrical currents to grow remarkably fine fibers. They quickly discovered that the flour solution was an integral part of the process. But instead of water, they mixed the flour with formic acid, because the acid dissolves the complex spiral structures that make up starch molecules. This process is essentially what happens when you boil pasta, but in this situation it allows the pieces to form extremely fine fibers.

Clancy co-writer Gareth Williams reiterated that there’s no chance you’ll be served his pasta any time soon.

Because it is so thin, the professor explained, “It would overcook in less than a second, before you could take it out of the pan.” » However, this development represents a remarkable step in the world of sustainable medical creation. The fact that functional nanofibers can be obtained from a flour compound could have considerable implications in the medical and industrial fields.