Effects of wheat flour with different farinograph and pasting characteristics on the surface tackiness of frozen cooked noodles

Abstract

Background and Objectives The sticky surface of cooked noodles seriously reduces consumer acceptance. This study investigates the effects of 12 wheat flour samples with different farinograph and pasting characteristics on the texture, sensory properties, and surface tackiness of recooked frozen cooked noodles (FCNs). Findings The recooked FCNs made of flour sample 1# with long dough stability time (DST) and high farinograph quality number (FQN) had a low surface tackiness (411 g) and high evaluation score (87). Meanwhile, wheat flour (sample 12#) with high peak viscosity (PV) had a proper degree of starch gelatinization, which would bring a low surface tackiness to FCNs. FCNs (sample 1#) had a high water‐holding capacity (T21 = 0.14 ms) and low unbound water content (A23 = 1.38%), and they had a dense internal gluten network structure. Conclusions The dense structure formed by protein and starch contributed to reducing the surface tackiness of FCNs after recooking and storing. Noodles factories should choose wheat flour which has long DST, high FQN, and high PV as raw material when producing FCNs. Significance and Novelty This study provides important information on choosing wheat flours suitable for making FCNs of high quality.

Effects of glutenin and gliadin on the surface tackiness of frozen cooked noodles

“…Farinograph characteristics can reflect the quality and processing property of wheat flour (Zhang et al, 2022). As shown in Table 1, compared with the control, wheat flour with added glutenin had lower DOS (86.67 FU) and FQN (67.33), and wheat flour with added gliadin had a higher DOS (151.00 FU) and lower FQN (58.67) ( p < .05).…”

“…It suggested that the addition of glutenin or gliadin alone could not improve the quality of wheat flour as well as the addition of gluten. Besides, the previous study reported that the FCNs made of wheat flour with long DST and high FQN had low surface tackiness (Zhang et al, 2022). It is speculated that glutenin and gliadin addition alone may not decrease the surface tackiness of FCNs.…”

“…Tensile strength analysis was performed using a tensile testing device A/KIE (Kieffer Extensibility Rig) (Zhang et al, 2022). One strand of recooked FCNs was placed on the upper and lower L‐shaped hook, and an incremental tensile load was applied until a break occurred.…”

“…With the extension of storage time, the surface stickiness of recooked FCNs will gradually increase, and the FCNs stick into a lump and have a poor edible quality (Obadi et al, 2021). Sensory evaluation suggested that the recooked FCNs with surface tackiness higher than 3.92 N were considered unacceptable by the evaluation panelists (Zhang et al, 2022). After the consumers ordered the cooked noodles using an app, the FCNs were recooked and packed into fast‐food lunch boxes by the fast‐food restaurant staff and then delivered to the customer's home by the delivery worker, a process that took about 30 min.…”

“…To our knowledge, starch leaching from the surface of noodles leads to the increase of the surface tackiness of noodles (An et al, 2021). The previous studies reported the methods of reducing the surface tackiness of FCNs from the aspects of noodle making technology (noodle shape: 3 mm width, 2 mm thickness), precooking technology (boiling water for 2 min and steaming for 3 min), and adjusting the composition of wheat flour (high gluten flour) (Wang, Zhang, Xu, and Zhang, 2020; Wang, Zhang, Xu, and Li, 2020; Zhang et al, 2022). Moreover, the addition of gluten (3%) can enhance the protein network of FCNs to wrap starch particles tightly, resulting in the decrease of the surface tackiness of FCNs (Wang et al, 2022; Wang, Zhang, Xu, & Li, 2020; Wang, Zhang, Xu, & Zhang, 2020).…”