Abstract:

Blends of wheat and defatted peanut flours containing 100%, 95%, 90%, 85% and 80% of wheat flour and 0, 5%, 10%, 15% and 20% of defatted peanut flour (DPF) were prepared, and gluten content and pasting properties were determined. Then the flour blends were processed into frozen noodles. The optimum mixing ratio for wheat and defatted peanut flours, water amount and salt amount for improved sensory evaluation of processed noodles were determined by orthogonal array design to be 10:90, 40% and 2.5%, respectively. The analysis of the quality of DPF frozen noodles showed the gluten content, pasting viscosities and texture properties decreased, while the boiling loss rate increased with increasing DPF amount. The changes in quality attributes of DPF frozen noodles were tracked during 28 days of frozen storage, and the hardness, tensile strength and tensile distance initially displayed a downward trend with prolonged storage period up to 16 days and then tended to be stable and the springiness, cohesiveness and resilience exhibited a slight but not significant increase. These results collectively reveal better storage resistance. According to the Chinese recommended nutrient intake and daily required amount of 200 g of noodles per person, the protein amount provided by the DPF noodles was calculated to represent 60% and 44% of total protein amounts essential for children and the elderly, respectively. Therefore, added DPF may soften the texture of noodles. Defatted peanut nutritive noodles could be acceptable to children and the elderly due to their good eating quality and high nutritional value.

Key words: frozen noodle, defatted peanut flour, TPA, gluten, pasting properties