Fresh wet noodles

Fresh noodle strands coming out of slitting rolls are cut into certain lengths for packaging without any further processing. Typical examples are Chinese raw noodles, udon noodles, chuka-men, Thai bamee, Cantonese noodles and soba noodles.

The shelf-life of food is very critical in the food security system. These are often consumed within 24 hours of manufacture due to quick discoloration. Their shelf life can be extended to 3-5 days if stored under refrigeration. It was reported that synthetic preservatives of a mixture of calcium propionate, sodium acetate monolaurin, and paraben or activated calcium could prolong the shelf life.

Fresh noodles, a traditional staple food, have been consumed for thousands of years in many Asian countries. Because of their convenience, high nutritional quality, and enjoyable flavor, fresh noodles are popular globally.

Compared with dry noodles, fresh wet noodles are fresher, with stronger boiling fastness, stronger gluten, better taste, and better flavor. However, the high moisture of fresh wet noodles can easily lead to spoilage, browning, rancidity, and deterioration, damaging appearance, quality, and flavor.

At the same time, the change of both content and distribution of water during the milling of wheat flour contribute to the loss and migration of moisture and changes in flour characteristics.
Fresh noodles

Wet noodle processing

Wet noodles are made from flour (100%) water (32-35%), salt (1-2%) and alkaline salts (0.5%-1%). The most common practice is to mix all the ingredients in a traditional horizontal mixer for 10-15 minutes to make stiff and crumbly dough pieces, but newly developed vertical mixers also are used.

The amount of water is determined by the type of flour, dough mixer and noodle machine.

Noodles can be made by extrusion or by rolling the dough into thin sheets. In automated plants, uncut fresh raw alkaline noodles (1.2 – 1.8 mm thickness and 1.5-1.7 mm width) pass through a boiling water bath for 45-60 seconds to achieve 70-80% starch gelatinization.

Then, the noodles are steeped immediately in tap water for 1-2 minutes or showered with tap water.

Later excess water in drained from the noodle surface by blowing air from fans installed on the noodle line.

The noodle strands are cut to a certain length with rotary blade and vegetables oil (about 2% of noodle weight) is sprayed or dripped onto noodle strands and well mixed to prevent noodles form sticking together.

Noodles are then placed in plastic bags for storage or delivered to retail outlet. The most important quality characteristics of these noodles are good color and smooth surface.

For good consumer acceptance they must be white or light yellow, depending on preferences in different regions. They have a limited shelf life and a very prone to enzymatic darkening because of the activity of enzyme polyp0henoloxidase.
Wet noodle processing

Fresh noodles

Fresh noodles are available commercially either frozen or vacuum packed. Fresh or raw noodles are sold without any further processing and contain about 35% moisture.

They usually have a thin cross section, which allows them to cook rapidly, and are made from relatively strong flour that imparts a chewy texture when cooked.

The most important quality characteristics of these noodles are good color and smooth surface. Generally, the thicker sizes are used in soups.

For good consumer acceptance they must be white or light yellow, depending on references in different regions.

The main disadvantages if fresh noodles is their relatively short shelf life, ranging from one to several days depending on the packaging and storage conditions.
Fresh noodles