Abstract:Pancakes, a flour-based food commonly consumed in northern regions, are susceptible to aging over time, resulting in a loss of texture and shelf life. The addition of improvers is involved in the traditional method of slowing down aging, but there have been fewer approaches based on grain modification. Consequently, the combination of rice flour and medium-gluten wheat flour was studied, with starch ratios being adjusted to assess the impact on the quality and aging characteristics of pancakes. The color, texture features, sensory properties, and microscopic structure were examined, while changes in enthalpy, crystallinity, and moisture migration during storage at 4 ℃ for 7 d were explored. The findings indicated that the aging of pancakes could be effectively mitigated by the addition of rice flour, particularly glutinous rice flour, which outperformed regular rice flour. The whiteness value of the pancakes was observed to increase from 22.35 to 25.63, and a significant decrease in shear force was noted (P<0.05). The aging enthalpy change did not change significantly during storage at 4 ℃ for 7 d when glutinous rice flour was added. The crystallinity increased from 14.42% to 17.66% after long-term aging due to the high content of branched starch in glutinous rice flour, resulted in slower moisture migration. Experimentally, Indica glutinous rice flour was observed to slightly outperform Japonica glutinous rice flour. In summary, the addition of 20% (m/m) glutinous rice flour was found to significantly reduce shear force (P<0.05) and effectively delay pancake aging. This study provides a theoretical foundation for delaying the aging of pancakes by adjusting the pure grain ratio.
