Effects of Different Dietary Fibers on the Processing Characteristics, Nutritional Properties, and Eating Quality of Chickpea Instant Noodles

Abstract:

To develop functional instant noodle products with superior quality and health benefits, this study systematically investigated the nutritional enhancement and quality improvement effects of exogenous dietary fibers, using high-protein, nonfried chickpea instant noodles as the carrier. Three soluble dietary fibers-β-glucan, konjac flour, and inulin-were incorporated into the high-protein composite flour system and their impacts on processing characteristics, antioxidant capacity, and in vitro starch digestion were analyzed. The results showed that adding water-soluble dietary fibers significantly increased dough hardness and viscoelasticity. In particular, including 2 wt.% konjac flour increased the initial equilibrium elastic coefficient (E0) and decay elastic coefficient (E1) by 81.20% and 32.80%, respectively, and promoted the densification of the gluten network, raising the protein matrix value to 43.74%. The resulting instant noodles demonstrated a reduced rehydration time (283 s) and significantly improved texture properties, with hardness and chewiness enhanced by 1 490.48 g and 1 036.48 g, respectively. In terms of antioxidant performance, the maximum polyphenol content reached 4.19 mg GAE•g-1 and ABTS radical scavenging rate increased to 56.51%. In conclusion, the comprehensive quality of the product was optimized by adding 2 wt.% konjac flour, achieving a sensory score of 78.62 and a predicted glycemic index (GI) of 49.67 based on in vitro digestion-meeting the criteria for low-GI foods. This study provides the theoretical support for developing functional instant noodles with excellent quality, antioxidant activity, and low glycemic response.