Noodle improvers include inorganic salts, nutritional fortifiers, curdlan, starch and modified starch, emulsifiers, enzymes, antioxidants, flavor enhancers and complex additives.
Features of Noodle Quality Improver:
One is to change the rheological characteristics of noodles, such as strength, elasticity, stretchability, smoothness, etc.;
The second is to make the noodles have a unique flavor and color;
The third is to increase or make up for the deficiencies of some or some nutrients in the noodles.
01 Inorganic salts
Commonly used inorganic salt noodle quality improvers include salt, alkali and complex phosphate. Adding them to the dough can make the esterification reaction between gluten protein and starch occur, bridging and bonding, forming a relatively stable complex, increasing the binding force of starch and gluten protein, reducing starch dissolution, and enhancing the strength of noodles. , smooth and cookable.
Salt
The main component of salt is sodium chloride. When the addition amount is 0.7% to 5.0%, it can significantly affect the rheological properties of the dough, the texture and cooking quality of the finished noodles, and at the same time enhance the viscoelasticity and extensibility of the wet gluten in the dough. , Improve the gelatinization rate, reduce the rate of broken strips, and change the taste of noodles.
With the increase of salt addition, the surface brightness of noodles increased, and the optimal cooking time gradually decreased. When the addition amount was 3%, the overall quality of noodles was the best.
Bases
The main components of alkalis are sodium carbonate and potassium carbonate. Generally, the two are mixed and used in a ratio of 6:4, and the addition amount is 0.1% to 0.15%; excessive addition will seriously damage the B vitamins and other nutrients in the noodles.
Alkali can act on the protein and starch in the flour, strengthen the gluten network structure, and significantly increase the tensile force and elongation of the dough, thereby enhancing the elasticity, toughness and strength of the noodles, and improving the quality of the noodles; it can promote starch gelatinization and improve the quality of noodles. The rehydration is not easy to muddy the soup, and the taste of the noodles is improved;
Alkaline agents can also neutralize free fatty acids in flour, reduce their damaging effects on gluten, and enable noodles to produce unique flavor and color. Usually used in combination with phosphate, the effect is better.
Complex phosphate
The main components of compound phosphate are sodium metaphosphate, sodium tripolyphosphate, sodium pyrophosphate and sodium dihydrogen phosphate. When the addition amount is 0.3% to 0.5%, it can increase the gluten strength, reduce starch leaching and enhance viscoelasticity; Effectively improve the color, flavor and taste of noodles, and improve the surface finish of noodles.
In the case of compound phosphate in the proportion of 55% sodium metaphosphate, 29% sodium tripolyphosphate, 3% sodium pyrophosphate, and 13% sodium dihydrogen phosphate, when the addition amount is 0.3%, the viscoelasticity and toughness of the noodles are produced. The best, and the soup is not muddy after cooking for a long time.
02 Nutritional supplements
Commonly used nutritional enhancers include wheat protein powder, soybean protein powder, egg liquid and casein. They can directly increase the protein content of flour, promote the formation of dough network structure and skeleton, make noodles stronger and reduce cooking loss.
Wheat protein powder
Wheat protein powder is also known as wheat active gluten or gluten. It is an undenatured wheat protein powder made from wheat that is crushed and washed with water to obtain raw gluten, liquefied with acid (usually acetic acid) and alkali (usually ammonia), and then spray-dried. Wheat protein powder is rich in chemical components including protein, starch, fat, sugar and minerals. After adding water, it has the unique viscoelasticity of gluten.
When using, the flour and wheat protein powder should be completely mixed in advance; when the addition amount is 1% to 3%, the gluten strength of the dough can be improved, the flexibility can be increased, the touch feeling can be improved, and the natural taste of the noodles can be enhanced.
Soy protein powder
Soybean protein powder is a light yellow powder made by peeling, pulverizing, defatting, and deodorizing soybeans. When the addition amount is 3% to 5%, the dough can absorb and maintain more water; the protein content of soybean protein powder is high, and the noodles with an appropriate amount of soybean protein powder are more nutritious, have good color, are resistant to cooking, and have gluten and elasticity .
Egg liquid
When the addition amount of egg liquid is 8% to 10%, it has good emulsifying, foaming, water-holding, thermal coagulation and other characteristics, which can greatly improve the elasticity, tendon, tension, smoothness and foam resistance of noodles. After boiling the noodles, it is not easy to paste the soup, not bad, and not sticky; it can make the noodles rich in nutrition and bright yellow in color; it can obviously improve the color, aroma, taste and shape of the noodles. Therefore, egg liquid is a good pure natural noodle quality improver.
Casein
Casein is a phosphorus-calcium-binding protein that can replace egg liquid and improve the quality of noodles. When the addition amount is 3% to 5%, the water absorption rate of the noodles can be increased, and the tension resistance of the noodles can be enhanced.
03 Curdlan
Commonly used curdlan noodle quality improvers include guar gum, xanthan gum, artemisia gum, sodium alginate and sodium carboxymethyl cellulose. Adding them to the flour can cross and penetrate with the gluten network, improve the water absorption rate and gelatinization degree of the flour, enhance the strength of the dough, make the noodles with good rehydration, shorten the cooking time, and improve the viscoelasticity.
Guar Gum
Guar gum, also known as guar gum, is an edible polysaccharide compound and hydrophilic colloid extracted from guar beans, which is yellow-brown powder. When the addition amount is 0.2% to 0.4%, the processing characteristics of the dough can be improved, the surface of the noodles produced is smooth, the tensile strength is increased, and it is not easy to fluff. Guar gum is an ideal binding gel for noodles.
Xanthan gum
Xanthan gum, also known as xanthan gum or xanthan gum, is extracted by microbial fermentation, and its main component is acidic heteropolysaccharide. When the addition amount is 0.15% to 0.2%, it can improve the water absorption capacity of the flour and the processing performance of the dough, so that the noodles have a tight texture and a smooth surface.
Xanthan gum and soybean lecithin are formulated and used in a ratio of 2:1, which can not only improve the gluten strength of noodles, make them rich in viscoelasticity, but also increase the nutrition of noodles. Therefore, xanthan gum is an ideal noodle quality improver.
Artemisia Gum
Artemisia annua is a wild semi-shrub plant of the genus Asteraceae, produced in the desert areas of northwest my country. The epidermis of Artemisia annua seeds has a layer of waxy colloid, which swells into a sticky and creamy gel when exposed to water, namely Artemisia Gum. When the addition amount is 0.2% to 1.0%, the gluten of noodles can be improved, the precipitation of free starch can be reduced, and the taste of noodles can be smooth.
Sodium alginate
Sodium alginate, also known as sodium alginate or kelp glue, is a polysaccharide biopolymer extracted, separated and refined from kelp, macroalgae and other brown algae as raw materials. It is white or light yellow powder. When the addition amount is 0.2% to 0.5%, the surface of the noodles can be smooth, the toughness is good, and the taste is fine.
Sodium carboxymethyl cellulose
Sodium carboxymethyl cellulose, referred to as CMC-Na, is a kind of thickener with high safety. When the addition amount is 0.2% to 0.5%, the surface of the noodles can be smooth, it is resistant to cooking, and the soup is not muddy, and the storage time of the noodles can be prolonged.
04 Starches and modified starches
Commonly used starch and modified starch noodle quality improvers include corn starch, potato (modified) starch and tapioca (modified) starch. Noodles made by adding starch or modified starch have good appearance, smooth surface, strong transparency, gluten and smooth taste, fine structure of noodles, relatively longer storage time, can inhibit the water absorption of noodles when boiling, shorten the cooking time time to prevent noodles from breaking.
Starch
Starch is a white to light yellow powder extracted from certain grains or rhizomes. The starches usually added to noodles include corn starch, potato starch and tapioca starch, and the addition amount is generally 3% to 8%.
The noodles made by adding cornstarch are of good quality, the finished product is white in color and strong in gluten.
The noodles made by adding potato starch have smooth taste, fine texture, strong transparency and good crunchiness, and the color deepens with the increase of the addition amount;
The noodles made with tapioca starch have better taste, smoothness and fine texture, but the gluten is slightly inferior to the noodles made with corn starch, and the color is darker.
After experiment comparison, it is found that adding 5% potato starch has a good influence on the quality of noodles, can improve the anti-aging properties of noodles, and make noodles taste the best.
Modified starch
Modified starch is divided into single modified starch and composite modified starch. Single modified starch uses natural starch as raw material, and changes its original physical and chemical properties by chemical, physical or biological methods to meet application requirements; compound modified starch has the excellent quality of two or more modified starches.
Usually, the modified starch used in noodles uses tapioca starch and potato starch as raw materials. When the addition amount is 2%, it can improve the rheological properties of the dough, so that the dough is not easy to break in the process of forming strips, and has a certain toughness; it can enhance the frost resistance of the noodles. It can greatly improve the anti-aging properties of noodles.
05 Emulsifiers
Commonly used emulsifiers in noodles are sucrose fatty acid esters, sodium stearoyl lactylate, calcium stearoyl lactylate and lecithin. When the addition amount is 0.1% to 0.5%, it can combine with the protein and starch in the wheat flour, so as to enhance the strength, elasticity and toughness of the noodles, and avoid the sticking between the noodles and the muddy soup, swollen strips and badness, etc. Phenomenon.
06 Enzymes
As a green and environmentally friendly food additive, enzyme preparation can improve the nutritional quality, flavor and texture characteristics of noodles, and improve the tendon, color and taste of noodles when added to dough. Compared with traditional noodle quality improvers, enzymes have significant advantages:
One is that it does not contain harmful residual substances;
Second, the catalytic reaction of enzymes is highly specific and efficient;
Third, the enzyme reaction conditions are mild, the loss of nutrients is small, the operation is easy, and the energy consumption is low. Commonly used enzyme preparations in noodles include transglutaminase, glucose oxidase, xylanase, lipase, and lipoxygenase, and the addition amount is generally 0.003% to 0.005%.
Transglutaminase
Transglutaminase, also known as transglutaminase, is a transferase that catalyzes the acyl transfer reaction and is widely present in animals, plants and microorganisms. Adding in dough can promote the cross-linking between non-gluten protein and gluten protein, strengthen the gluten network structure, improve the rheological properties of the dough, prolong the stability time of the flour, improve the extensibility, elasticity and water holding capacity of the dough, increase the The gas retention of the large gluten network improves the noodle quality.
Glucose oxidase
Adding glucose oxidase to the dough can improve the farinaceous stretch and dynamic rheological properties of the dough, strengthen the network skeleton of the dough, and improve the water-holding capacity of the dough. When making noodles, adding an appropriate amount of glucose oxidase can make the noodles taste gluten and increase the cooking resistance of the noodles, so that the surface will not collapse and the soup will not be smashed.
Xylanase
Xylanase is a heterogeneous polysaccharide present in plant cell walls. Adding it to the dough can improve the elastic stability of the dough and the tolerance to over-fermentation, increase the anti-aging effect of noodle products, and improve the ductility and quality of the noodles.
Lipase
Lipase is also known as triglyceride hydrolase. Adding it to the dough can make the wheat lipids interact with the gluten protein, form a better gluten network, delay the aging of the starch, and make the noodles soft, elastic and chewy; it can emulsify and increase the size of the noodles. white effect.
Lipoxygenase
Lipoxygenase is a non-heme iron-containing protein mainly found in legumes. When added in making noodles, it can polymerize with the gluten protein in the dough, reduce the breakage rate and loss rate during the processing and storage of the noodles, and improve the color of the noodles.
07 Antioxidants
The first thing to solve in the industrial production of noodles is the storage and preservation problem in circulation. Experimental research results show that antioxidants in the ratio of 0.06% ascorbic acid, 0.07% erythorbic acid, and 0.07% phytic acid can effectively prevent noodles from browning and being contaminated by bacilli.
08 Flavor enhancers
The main purpose of flavor enhancement and coloring is to highlight the individuality of the noodles, increase the nutritional value of the noodles, and then increase the commercial value of the noodles.
Flavor enhancer
Flavor enhancers are mainly various seasonings including salt. Sometimes pepper juice, onion juice, mushroom powder and garlic powder are added to the noodles to enhance the flavor.
Color enhancer
Color enhancers with natural colors (gardenia yellow, beta-carotene, curcumin, monascus, capsanthin, caramel and cocoa powder), fresh colored vegetable juices (spinach juice, pumpkin juice and perilla leaf juice) and edible algae juice. Adding it to noodles can make noodle products different in color and shape, and better meet the needs of consumers.
09 Compound Additives
Commonly used compound additive type noodle quality improver includes inorganic salt and nutrient additive compound, curdlan, starch and modified starch compound, emulsifier and enzyme preparation compound, antioxidant and so on. They can significantly improve the stability time of the dough, increase the water absorption rate of the flour, improve the gluten strength of the noodles, and improve the color, cookability and breaking rate of the noodles.
Conclusion: Noodles are a complex macromolecular organic compound. There are many problems involved in the noodle processing process, and it is sometimes difficult to achieve results by adding only one or several modifiers to improve the quality of noodles. In order to make the noodle product taste the best, compound additives should be used to improve the noodle quality.