Abstract: In order to objectively evaluate the quality of commercial flavored extruded noodles and to establish a scientific and reasonable quality evaluation system, 17 quality indexes of 22 types of commercial flavored extruded noodles were measured. Hardness, elasticity, fat, sodium, acid value, peroxide value and water activity were selected as core quality indexes by the combined use of correlation analysis, principal component analysis and cluster analysis, and their weights were determined by analytic hierarchy process. A quality evaluation model was established as follows: Y = 0.374 1 × elasticity + 0.267 9 × hardness + 0.107 6 × fat + 0.107 6 × sodium + 0.043 1 × peroxide value + 0.030 1 × water activity + 0.069 5 × acid value. The model’s reliability was confirmed by linear regression analysis between sensory scores and quality scores obtained from this model, showing a determination coefficient (R2) of 0.906 7. The established model can provide a scientific basis for the comprehensive evaluation of the quality of flavored extruded noodles.

Key words: flavored extruded noodles; principal component analysis; cluster analysis; analytic hierarchy process; quality evaluation