Quality evaluation of yellow alkaline noodles made from the Kitanokaori wheat cultivar

We examined the relationship between flour/starch properties and the yellow alkaline noodle (YAN) color or physical properties of Kitanokaori, a Hokkaido hard wheat cultivar, and four other samples. Regarding flour properties, Kitanokaori had low polyphenol oxidase (PPO) activity and low amylose content. A time-course experiment showed that a raw noodle sheet made from Kitanokaori had less reduction in color brightness than sheets made from other flour samples that had high PPO activity. This finding suggests that the brightness stability of the Kitanokaori noodle is caused by its low PPO activity. Regarding physical properties and texture, Kitanokaori had high breakdown and low setback viscosity, as measured with a Rapid Visco Analyzer (RVA), and high elastic indices of the starch gel and YAN as a result of the low amylose content. In assessment of the eating quality, the total score of YAN made from Kitanokaori was higher than that obtained from other samples. This was because Kitanokaori had high elasticity and smoothness, which was related to its low amylose content, and the reduction in hardness related to low amylose was suppressed, since the protein properties of Kitanokaori are relatively strong. The results of comparison demonstrated that the superior qualities of YAN made from Kitanokaori could be attributed to the low PPO activity and low amylose content of the flour.