Utilization of rice bran for wheat flour substitution in noodle product development: a review

Rice bran is a by-product of polishing in the rice milling process. Rice bran contains numerous bioactive compounds with a beneficial effect on human health, namely dietary fiber, flavonoid, tocopherol, tocotrienol, and gamma-oryzanol. Since the trend of healthy food has been rising, rice bran has been taken an interest to use in functional food development. Noodle products are often developed as a functional food due to widely consumed foods and as a great carrier to deliver bioactive compounds. The utilization of rice bran could change noodle quality attributes which influences market acceptance. Dietary fiber in rice bran could affect noodles cooking quality and texture profile. Stabilization of rice bran before use could reduce adverse effects of rice bran on noodles’ quality. Noodle processing such as kneading and cooking could affect antioxidant compounds. The aim of this paper is to review rice bran substituted noodle quality, including nutritional product value, factors affecting noodle characteristics, and methods to improve rice bran noodle quality. This paper discussed not only noodles enriched with white rice bran but also with red and black rice bran. Thus, it could provide broad information to support further rice bran utilization in noodle development.

Determining the Effect of Pre-Treatment in Rice Noodle Quality Subjected to Dehydration through Hierarchical Scoring

Fresh rice noodle was usually coated in a large amount of oil to avoid stickiness and extend the shelf life. Pre-treatment has been applied to reduce the quantity of oil in rice noodle. In this research, the pre-treatment and temperature effect on the rice noodle quality subjected to hot air drying, heat pump drying, and freeze drying was investigated. Texture, color, oil content, and starch gelatinization of the dried noodle was further evaluated. Results revealed that there were significant differences (p < 0.05%) in texture, color, oil content, and starch gelatinization in rice noodle subjected to pre-treatment. Furthermore, the texture, color, oil content, and starch gelatinization demonstrated a significant difference (p < 0.05%) in freeze drying rather than hot air drying and heat pump drying. The findings indicate that the qualitative features of the dehydrated noodle are synergistic to pretreatment and drying temperature. Despite superior quality shown by freeze drying, the hierarchical scoring has proven that rice noodle undergoing hot air drying at 30 °C to produce comparable quality attributes. The hierarchical scoring can be a useful tool in quality determination for the food industry.

Breeding of Buckwheat for Usage of Sprout and Pre-Harvest Sprouting Resistance

Buckwheat is recognized as an important traditional crop and supports local economies in several regions around the world. Buckwheat is used, for example, as a cereal grain, noodle and bread. In addition, buckwheat is also used as a sprout or a young seedling. For these foods, sprouting is an important characteristic that affects food quality. For foods made from buckwheat flour, pre-harvest sprouting may decrease yield, which also leads to the deterioration of noodle quality. Breeding buckwheat that is resistant to pre-harvest sprouting is therefore required. Germination and subsequent growth are also important characteristics of the quality of sprouts. Although buckwheat sprouts are the focus because they contain many functional compounds, such as rutin, several problems have been noted, such as thin hypocotyls and husks remaining on sprouts. To date, several new varieties have been developed to resolve these quality issues. In this review, we summarize and introduce research on the breeding of buckwheat related to quality, sprouting and subsequent sprout growth.