Effect of heat-moisture treatment of germinated wheat on the quality of Chinese white salted noodles

Recent advances in germinated cereal and pseudo-cereal starch: Properties and challenges in its modulation on quality of starchy foods

Germination is an environmentally friendly process with no use of additives, during which only water spraying is done to activate endogenous enzymes for modification. Furthermore, it could induce bioactive phenolics accumulation. Controlling endogenous enzymes' activity is essential to alleviate granular disruption, crystallinity loss, double helices' dissociation, and molecular degradation of cereal and pseudo-cereal starch. Post-treatments (e.g. thermal and high-pressure technology) make it possible for damaged starch to reassemble towards well-packed structure. These contribute to alleviated loss of solubility and pasting viscosity, improved swelling power, or enhanced resistant starch formation. Cereal or pseudo-cereal flour (except that with robust structure) modified by early germination is more applicable to produce products with desirable texture and taste. Besides shortening duration, germination under abiotic stress is promising to mitigate starch damage for better utilization in staple foods.

Replacement of Native with Malted Triticale (x Triticosecale Wittmack) Flour in Dry Pasta: Technological and Nutritional Implications

The use of native and malted triticale (MT) flour in dry pasta has been limited despite the potential of triticale in cereal-based food production. In this study, triticale-based dry spaghetti with increasing levels of substitution (0, 25, 50, and 75 g/100 g w/w) of MT flour were formulated and analyzed. Samples were analyzed for technological and nutritional traits, including the in vitro starch and protein digestions. The gradual substitution of native triticale flour with MT increased (p < 0.05) the total dietary fiber content, whereas total starch decreased (p < 0.05). Adding MT flour increased the cooking loss and the stickiness of cooked pasta (p < 0.05). Using MT flour modulated the in vitro starch digestion, lowering the slowly digestible and resistant starch contents. The in vitro protein digestibility was positively affected using MT at the highest substitution level. Overall, MT could be used to formulate dry pasta products being the substitution to native triticale up to 50 g/100 g, a good compromise between nutritional quality and technological characteristics.

Structure-activity relationship between gluten and dough quality of sprouted wheat flour based on air classification-induced component recombination

BACKGROUND

Air classification can separate sprouted wheat flour (SWF) into three types: coarse wheat flour (F1), medium wheat flour (F2) and fine wheat flour (F3). The gluten quality of SWF can be indirectly improved by removing inferior parts (F3). In order to reveal the underlying mechanism of this phenomenon, the composition and structural changes of gluten, as well as the rheological properties and fermentation characteristics of gluten in recombinant dough in the process of air classification of all three SWF types, were analyzed in this study.

RESULTS

Overall, sprouting significantly reduced the content of high-molecular-weight subunits, such as glutenin subunit and ω-gliadin. It also destroyed the structural content, such as disulfide bonds, α-helix and β-turn contents, which maintained the stability of gluten gel. Air classification made the above changes in F3 more severe but reversed them in F1. Moreover, rheological properties were more affected by gluten composition, whereas fermentation characteristics were more affected by gluten structure.

CONCLUSION

After air classification, particles rich in high molecular weight subunits from SWF are enriched in F1, and the gluten of F1 has more secondary structure that maintain gel stability, which ultimately lead to improved rheology properties and fermentation characteristics. F3 relatively exhibits the opppsite phenomenon. These results further reveal the potential mechanism of improvement of SWF gluten by air classification. Moreover, Thus, this study provides new perspectives for the utilization of SWF. © 2023 Society of Chemical Industry.

Effect of heat-moisture treatment of germinated black rice on the physicochemical properties and its utilization by lactic acid bacteria

The heat susceptibility of starch granule structure has been considering as significant limitation of germinated black rice (GBR) using in food processing industry. Therefore, this study aimed to improve the physicochemical and antioxidation property as well as its effect on the probiotics of GBR by heat moisture treatment (HMT). Black rice germinated at 37.5 °C for 12, 24, and 36 h were studied. Ultrastructural image of each sample was visualized through scanning electron microscope. The results illustrated 24 h-GBR retain its former shape with rough surface. Subsequently, 24 h-GBR was structurally modified by HMT with moisture levels of 20% and 25% for 1 and 2 h. The results showed that pasting properties of HMT-treated GBR were improved. This was particularly on, GBR using HMT condition of 25% moisture for 2 h decrease in breakdown viscosity was shown. Moreover, phenolic content of HMT-treated GBR was higher than those of GBR. Besides, the number of the Lactobacillus paracasei TOKAI 13 was increased in GBR and HMT-treated GBR with counts of 10.08 ± 0.83 Log CFU/ml and 9.31 ± 0.33 Log CFU/ml, respectively, with significant increases in antioxidant property. Therefore, the HMT-GBR could be utilized as an alternative functional ingredient in food processing products.

Regulation of Structure and Quality of Dried Noodles by Liquid Pre-Fermentation

Liquid pre-fermentation technology was innovatively applied to the development of dried fermented noodles. The effects of fermentation time (1, 3 and 6 h) and yeast addition (0.2, 0.5 and 1.0 g/100 g of flour) on the quality, microstructure and flavor of dried noodles were also investigated in this study. Conspicuous porous structures and greater thickness of dried noodles were found when the fermentation time was ≤ 3 h and the yeast addition was ≥ 0.5 g/100 g of flour, which contributed to the increase in the breaking strength, cooking time and water absorption. However, when the fermentation time increased to 6 h, finer microporous structures, little change related to thickness and richer flavor levels were detected. Additionally, the total titratable acidity of dried fermented noodles was increased to 3.38-4.43 mL compared with the unfermented noodles (2.15 mL). Weaker gluten network structures caused by long-time fermentation and acidic environment led to lower hardness, chewiness, tensile force and tensile distance of cooked fermented noodles.

Effect of characteristics of different wheat flours on the quality of fermented hollow noodles

Hollow noodles, also known as Kongxin noodles in China, are traditionally hand-made noodles produced by spontaneous fermentation. It is easy to cook, nutrient-rich, and delicious. However, it is difficult to realize industrial production by spontaneous fermentation due to its complexity. More recently, new techniques have emerged for producing such noodles industrially using commercial yeasts. However, there are no reports on how to choose the raw materials for making fermented hollow noodles. Therefore, the suitability of eleven local varieties of wheat flour was determined by evaluating their physicochemical, rheological properties, and pasting properties. Flour and dough properties of wheat flour were also correlated with the quality characteristics of hollow noodles. The correlation coefficient data indicated that the color score was negatively correlated with ash content and positively correlated with starch content. Different from ordinary dried noodles, a negative correlation was observed between cooking time (CT) and protein content. Water absorption (NWA) of hollow noodles was negatively affected by extensograph properties. Water absorption of flour (FWA) and extensibility (E) were found to be highly correlated to hollow rate (Hol-R), indicating that these two indexes could predict the fermentation status of hollow noodles. Results showed that wheat flours with higher swelling index of glutenin (SIG), FWA, E, and pasting temperature (PT) had better dough fermentation power and stability and thus were beneficial to the production of high-quality hollow noodles. This study provides a simple method for the industrial production of hollow noodles and provides a basis for the selection of raw materials for their production.

Recent advances in heat-moisture modified cereal starch: Structure, functionality and its applications in starchy food systems

Cereals, one of the starch sources, have a tremendous and steady production worldwide. Starchy foods constitute the major part of daily calorie intake for humans. As a simple and green modification approach, heat-moisture treatment (HMT) could change the granular surface characteristics and size, crystalline and helical structure, as well as molecular organization of cereal starch. The changing degree is contingent on HMT parameters and botanical origin. Based on the hierarchical structure, this paper reviews functionalities of heat-moisture modified cereal starch (HMCS) reported in latest years. The functionality of HMCS could be affected by co-existing non-starch ingredients through non-covalent/covalent interactions, depolymerization or simply attachment/encapsulation. Besides, it summarizes the modulation of HMCS in dough rheology and final food products' quality. Selecting proper HMT conditions is crucial for achieving nutritious products with desirable sensory and storage quality. This review gives a systematic understanding about HMCS for the better utilization in food industry.