Influence of addition of extruded rice flour on preparation and quality of fresh gluten-free yellow alkaline noodles

Extrusion cooking was employed to physically modify structure and physicochemical properties of native rice flour (RF). In this study, blends of extruded rice flour (ERF) and RF were utilized to prepare gluten-free yellow alkaline noodles (GF-YAN). Exhibiting a cold-water swelling and a cold-peak viscosity, ERF acted as a binder paste for RF particles, thus allowing to prepare a smooth and cohesive GF dough at room temperature. Moreover, the dough could pass through a series of sheeting rollers to form a thin sheet prior to slitting into GF-YAN strands which is the traditional production process of YAN from wheat. Results showed that ERF exhibiting high peak viscosity improved tensile strength and elongation of cooked GF-YAN which implied that starch matrix developed strong binder paste. GF-YAN showed low cooking time and cooking loss. To improve texture and color, egg powder was incorporated in GF-YAN formulations. Results showed that adding egg powders improved yellow color (b(star) value), but decreased the noodle elongation. Confocal laser scanning micrograph revealed the swollen egg granules embedded in the starch matrix, which could disrupt the formation of continuous starch matrix and weaken the elongation property of the cooked GF-YAN. Results proved that pregelatinized ERF can be a promising alternative ingredient to prepare GF-YAN manufacturing by the traditional YAN sheeting process.