The texture of noodles

Texture is a sensory characteristic. The sensory signals of texture perceived by the consumer are derived from the interactions of the structural, physical, and geometrical properties of the food with the hands and mouth during handling and eating.

Szczesnaik in 1963 classified the textural characteristics of food into mechanical and geometric properties and those related to the fat and moisture content of food.

Texture of noodles is one of the important attributes that are judged while evaluating wheat varieties for any noodle making. It is one of the key quality factors that affect consumer acceptability of the product, other than color.

Chinese raw noodle should be hard and elastic in bite with stable texture in hot water whereas a soft and elastic texture is preferred in the case of Japanese udon noodles.

Alkaline Japanese ‘ramen’ noodles should be firm springy, not sticky and smooth.

All the quality attributes of wheat flour noodles, including their texture, depend primarily on the characteristics of the wheat flour used as a raw material. The wheat chosen for milling should be clean, plump, predominantly free from defects and sound.

Addition of alkaline agents improves the textile of the cooked product or noodles, making it more chewy with less of the tendency to soften and paste after cooking.

Water absorption levels used during mixing, noodle aging, cooking time and cooling water temperature all influence the texture of the final noodle.
The texture of noodles