Improving the surface tackiness of frozen cooked noodles by the addition of glutenin, gliadin, and gluten

The mechanism of gluten components on surface tackiness of frozen cooked noodles (FCNs) during processing is still unclear. The internal relationship between gluten components and the surface tackiness of FCNs during manufacturing process was investigated. Texture characteristics, surface tackiness, gelatinization degree, thermal stability, free sulfhydryl, protein molecular weight distribution, secondary structure, surface and internal microstructure of FCNs were determined. The results showed that the addition of glutenin could strengthen the backbone of gluten network, decrease free sulfhydryl content (1.81 μmol/g) of pre-cooked noodles, increase the gelatinization degree (89.71%), protein aggregation (glutenin macropolymers: 86.55%) and ordered secondary structure of recooked FCNs, and resist the damage of gluten network caused by pre-cooking. The addition of gliadin could promote the formation of membrane gluten network, improve the extensibility (tensile distance: 0.0212 m) of FCNs, resist the damage of gluten network during freezing storage for wrapping starch particles more tightly, and decrease the surface tackiness (3.60 N) of recooked FCNs. Gluten combined the advantages of glutenin and gliadin to strengthen gluten network and reduce the surface tackiness of FCNs. In the future, the synergistic effect of glutenin and gliadin will be further studied to regulate the surface tackiness and edible quality of FCNs.