Application Studies / Asian Noodles

Asian Noodles

Industry:

Food

Attributes measured:

firmness

extensibility

tpa

hardness

cohesiveness

springiness

chewiness

resilience

Background

Virtually every country in Asia has a rich variety of noodles with unique textural preferences. The Asian Products Laboratory of the Wheat Marketing Center in Portland, Oregon has conducted extensive research into the quality attributes of US wheats for Asian consumer acceptability of oriental noodles. The APL conducts an ongoing Asian Noodle Protocol project for the development of test protocols, standard processing methods, and quality measurements for hard and soft wheats. The APL, Oregon State University and technical teams from Asia also research the nuances of consumer acceptability and instrumental textural differences of noodles made from wheats which are exported through the Columbia River basin (among them hard red spring wheat, hard red winter wheat, soft white and white club wheat). This application study describes several test methods and protocols for Asian noodles which were refined by the Wheat Marketing Center with the TA.XT2 and TA.XTPlus Texture Analyzer. The APL has determined that results from these test methods correlate well with Asian consumer sensory results. The first test is a Texture Profile Analysis (TPA) test and the second is an extensibility test for noodle dough.