Micro-computed tomographic and proton NMR characterization of cooked noodles and their correlation with conventional methods

摘要

Microcomputed tomography (micro-CT) and proton NMR were applied to quantitatively characterize the structural changes of noodles depending on cooking times, and then compared with conventional methods. In the micro-CT analysis, the cooked and uncooked portions of the noodles were distinctly visualized depending on their density difference, and their 3-dimensional images were successfully utilized to calculate the degree of cooking. In terms of water mobility, three distinct water populations were observed in the cooked noodles. All the T-2 relaxation times had a tendency to increase with increasing cooking times, while the proportions of weakly bound water and tightly bound water varied. The noodles cooked for longer times exhibited a softer texture and higher cold initial/lower final viscosities. Pearson correlation and principal component analysis demonstrated that the parameters obtained by micro-CT and proton NMR were well-correlated with water absorption, firmness, and pasting properties (cold initial and final viscosity) from the conventional methods.