The interaction between inulin and wheat starch and effects of inulin on frozen storage quality of noodles

Summary In this paper, the effects of adding a different proportion of inulin powder on starch gelatinisation, free amylose content, thermodynamic properties and microstructure of wheat starch were studied. RVA results showed that the addition of inulin could increase the starting temperature of wheat starch gelatinisation, decrease the peak viscosity and the setback value, and reduce the content of the leached amylose. In DSC test, similar trend was observed, starting temperature and peak temperature showed growing results, and retrogradation enthalpy and the ageing rate reduced. SEM results found that with inulin addition, wheat starch presents flocculent and fold structure. The noodles with 5% inulin addition were frozen‐stored for 50 days after the cooking process. Inulin addition could retard the hardness and viscosity increase during the frozen storage. Besides, cooking loss rates and sensory property‐treated samples were better than the control.