Abstract:To investigate changes in noodle quality after heat-moisture treatment of wheat, the effects of wheat initial moisture content (14~22%), heat-moisture treatment temperature (45~85 ℃), and heat-moisture treatment duration (15~90 min) on wheat gluten protein composition and subunit ratio, as well as the cooking and texture characteristics and sensory quality of noodles, were evaluated. Response surface methodology was used to predict the optimal process of wheat heat-moisture treatment. The results indicated that high-temperature, long-duration heat-moisture treatment contributed to significantly reduced glutenin content, increased prolamin content, reduced glutenin-to-prolamine ratios, significantly decreased levels of high-molecular-weight glutenin subunits and low-molecular-weight glutenin subunits, and significantly increased γ-subunit levels. Heat-moisture treatment at a higher intensity (moisture content of 22%, temperature >75 ℃, and duration >60 min) led to an increase in noodle cooking loss, with lower levels of hardness, chewiness, elasticity, and sensory scores. The optimal conditions for heat-moisture treatment were found to be a temperature of 56 ℃, initial wheat moisture content of 18%, and duration of 35 min. Under these conditions, the sensory score of the noodles was 83.8, cooking loss rate was 6.02%, and overall score was 0.93. Compared with the untreated group, the hardness and chewiness of the noodles slightly increased, water absorption rate increased by 7.63%, and no significant difference in sensory scores was identified. In conclusion, appropriate heat-moisture treatment of wheat can improve the quality of noodles. This study provides a reference for using heat treatment to stabilize or improve the quality of wheat.
