Abstract
The influence of the drying conditions on protein structural properties and its impact on Chinese dried noodles (CDN) quality properties is addressed in this study. The CDN were produced under nine different drying conditions utilizing combination of three temperatures (40°C, 60°C, and 80°C) and three relative humidities (65%, 75%, and 85%). The color, texture profile analysis of uncooked and cooked noodles, shrinkage ratio, and cooking quality of CDN were assessed. SEM and FTIR microimaging were investigated to determine the changes in the gluten structural properties. Drying temperature and relative humidity have significant effects on quality characteristics of CDN. However, the influences on different indicators were different. Drying temperature was the main influencing factor of the quality of CDN and protein microstructure. After the drying temperature exceeded 60°C, proteins began to aggregate, and the surface protein distribution became uneven. Compared with cross section, the uniformity of protein distribution on the surface of noodles showed a significant decrease. A high temperature (60°C) could improve the quality of CDN products. The quality of CDN products could be adjusted by the combination of drying temperature and relative humidity.
Highlights
Chinese dried noodles (CDN) are one of the most popular noodle types all over the world due to their convenience, variety, long shelf life, and nutritional values. e total production yield of CDN has reached over 8 million tons per year in China, which consumes about 35% of the total flour consumption in mainland China [1, 2]
Drying process is a key step of CDN production. e process design and parameter control largely determine the quality of product, production efficiency, and energy consumption [3]
Under the conditions of different drying temperatures, with the increase in relative humidity, the L∗ values of noodles showed the decreasing trend, whereas the a∗ values showed the increasing trend. e L∗ values combination under the relative humidity of 85% were significantly lower than those under 65% and 75%, whereas the a∗ values under the relative humidity of 85% were significantly higher than those under 65% and 75%
Summary
Chinese dried noodles (CDN) are one of the most popular noodle types all over the world due to their convenience, variety, long shelf life, and nutritional values. e total production yield of CDN has reached over 8 million tons per year in China, which consumes about 35% of the total flour consumption in mainland China [1, 2]. Temperature and relative humidity (RH) in drying chamber are the two main conditions during drying process. E effects of drying conditions and process on the quality of spaghetti and dried udon noodles have been extensively explored [5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13]. Wang et al observed that gluten content mainly affected the drying rate in the middle drying period of Chinese dried noodle [16]. The effect of drying temperature, relative humidity, and their interactions on quality characteristics of Chinese dried noodles, the changes in protein microstructure under different drying conditions, and the influences of these changes on the quality characteristics of CDN products were rarely explored
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