Functionality in Noodles and Pasta

Starch changes during cooking of pasta are reported to vary from a hydration-driven gelatinization process in the outer layer to a heat-induced crystallite melting in the center.525 It is speculated that both the state of the starch and the surface structure contribute to the development of the elastic texture and stickiness of pasta. Interactions between starch and the surrounding protein matrix are evident in the outer and intermediate layer. In the center of cooked pasta, wheat starch granules retain their shape due to limited water diffusion, and the protein network remains dense. 

Wheat noodles are consumed in large amounts in China, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Taiwan, Singapore, Hong Kong and the Philippines.509 Oriental wheat noodles may be divided broadly into two classes the Japanese white salted noodle and the Chinese (Cantonese) yellow alkaline noodle. The first class is made from wheat flour (100 parts), water (35 parts) and table salt (1-2 parts) whereas the second class is made by replacing table salt with a mixture of sodium and potassium carbonates, often referred to as kansui. Within the two classes, the five popular types of noodles are raw wet (boiled) dried instant fried and steamed and dried.509,532,533 

Because wheat flour, which comprises 70-75% starch, accounts for 95% of the dry solids in Oriental noodles, it is not surprising that the quality of noodles varies with starch properties.534 Quality differences of Chinese yellow noodles produced from Australian and US wheats are attributable to their starch properties.535 The water-holding capacity of starch was strongly correlated with the viscoelastic properties of Japanese noodles.536 Numerous researchers have provided evidence that moderately high swelling wheat starch in flour is important to the quality of Japanese salt noodles.313,534,537-549 By contrast, wheat flours with low-swelling starch are preferred for alkaline noodles in Japan.550 

Crosbie543 measured the swelling power of wheat flours and starches from 13 cultivars grown in Western Australia and found that the desired texture of cooked salt noodles was correlated positively with swelling power, which agrees with the results 

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