Abstract: To address the problem of quality deterioration caused by the combined effects of ice crystal growth and starch retrogradation during the frozen storage of cooked noodles as well as bread staling during storage, the effects of adding different amounts of lipase derived from Moesziomyces aphidis on the freezable water content, water distribution, protein secondary structure, textural properties, and cooking quality of frozen cooked noodles as well as the alveograph characteristics, pasting properties, and staling rate of bread were investigated by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), low-field nuclear magnetic resonance (LF-NMR), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and texture analyzer. Results showed that addition of the lipase at 15 mg/kg resulted in the best quality of frozen cooked noodles, decreasing the freezable water content by 18.37%, increasing the proportion of strongly bound water by 13%, raising the hardness and extension at break by 22.46% and 68.98%, respectively, and significantly reducing the cooking loss rate. In addition, it increased the specific volume of bread by 12%, reduced the hardness and staling rate by 28.48% and 37.17%, respectively, and significantly enhanced dough ductility and gas-holding capacity. Thus, the lipase effectively improves the frozen storage stability of noodles and the anti-aging property of bread, aligning with the trend of clean label and offering broad applications in frozen and baked cereal products.

Key words: lipase; frozen cooked noodles; bread; frozen storage quality; staling