Article

Textural and physical properties of retort

processed rice noodles: Influence of chilling
and partial substitution of rice flour with
pregelatinized high-amylose maize starch

Muhammad Lubowa, Shin Y Yeoh and Azhar M Easa

Abstract
This study investigated the influence of pregelatinized high-amylose maize starch and chilling treatment on
the physical and textural properties of canned rice noodles thermally processed in a retort. Rice noodles were
prepared from rice flour partially substituted with pregelatinized high-amylose maize starch (Hylon VIITM) in
the ratios 0, 5, 10, and 15% (wt/wt). High-amylose maize starch improved the texture and brightness of fresh
(not retorted) noodles. Chilling treatment led to significant (P  0.05) improvement in the texture of fresh
noodles at all levels of substitution with high-amylose starch. The highest hardness was recorded at 15%
amylose level in chilled nonretorted noodles. Retort processing induced a major loss of quality through water
absorption, retort cooking loss, decreased noodle hardness, and lightness. However, the results showed that
amylose and chilling treatment positively reduced the impact of retorting. For each level of amylose substi-
tution, a low retort cooking loss and increased noodle hardness were associated with a chilling treatment. For
both chilled and nonchilled noodles, retort cooking loss and hardness increased with increasing levels of
amylose substitution.

Keywords
Canning, food texture, starch
Date received: 4 July 2017; accepted: 1 March 2018

(Kim et al., 2014; Xia et al., 2012). It has been demon-

INTRODUCTION
Since ancient times, noodles have been the staple food
in many Asian countries. Unlike other starch-based
noodles, the consumption of rice noodles is believed
to confer certain nutritional benefits to the consumer.
These benefits include a higher intake of proteins (5.7–
8.85% proteins in rice flour) (Heinemann et al., 2005;
Lu and Collado, 2010; Marcoa and Rosell, 2008). The
rice proteins have a well-balanced amino acid profile,
thus can be an excellent source with high nutritional
and health-related properties like hypocholesterolemic,
hypolipidemic effects, and high anticancer activity
strated that rice noodles could provide a lower glycemic
blood index when eaten by diabetic patients (Lu and
Collado, 2010; Panlasigui et al., 1990; Tan et al., 2009).
Another potential benefit of rice noodles is the absence
of gluten, because rice proteins do not contain the toxic
epitope responsible for celiac disease in some individ-
uals (Kim et al., 2014; Komatsu and Hirano, 1992).
Compared to other starch-based noodles, the pro-
cessing technology for rice noodles is simpler. Rice noo-
dles are made by soaking rice and then milling,
cooking, and kneading it into dough and extruding it

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DOI: 10.1177/1082013218766984
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Food Technology Division, School of Industrial Technology,
Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penang, Malaysia
Corresponding author:
Muhammad Lubowa, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Minden, Pulau
Pinang 11800, Malaysia.
Email: planetlubs@gmail.com
Food Science and Technology International 0(0)
into threads or slicing into strips. They may then be
cooked and eaten fresh; otherwise they are dried to
extend their shelf life (Lu and Collado, 2010). It is
not yet possible to produce canned rice noodle possibly
due to the poor viscoelastic properties of rice flour
dough. Attempts to produce yellow alkaline noodles
in cans have been in vain (Yeoh et al., 2014). During
canning, the noodles become soft, soggy, and crumble
into small pieces, consequently leading to loss in texture
and compromising the sensory appeal (Kim et al., 2014;
Yeoh et al., 2014). In the absence of a strong protein
network, therefore, the viscoelastic quality of rice noo-
dles solely depends on the properties of the starch com-
ponent. The physicochemical characteristics (such as
flour swelling power, pasting properties, and gel hard-
ness) and functional properties of the rice flour starch
as it undergoes heat treatment play an important role in
determining the final textural quality of processed noo-
dles (Bhattacharya, 2011; Bhattacharya et al., 1999;
Hormdok and Noomhorm, 2007; Sandhu et al.,
2010). Unfortunately, native rice flour starch has poor
resistance to shear force and a low elastic gel-forming
ability (Cham and Suwannaporn, 2010; Pitiphunpong
and Suwannaporn, 2009).
Several researches have investigated different
approaches to confer appropriate viscoelastic proper-
ties to rice pasta. These include use of enzymes, cross-
linking agents, and protein isolates (Kim et al., 2014);
addition of chemically modified starches (Ren and
Shin, 2013; Yu and Shin, 2015); partially substituting
with other flours (Sandhu et al., 2010; Yadav et al.,
2011); use of hydrocolloids (Inglett et al., 2005; Sozer,
2009); hydrothermal treatment of rice flour for making
noodles (Cham and Suwannaporn, 2010; Hormdok and
Noomhorm, 2007; Lorlowhakarn and Naivikul, 2006);
manipulating rice flour particle size (Malahayati et al.,
2011) among others.
Despite the potential use of starch components
(amylose and amylopectin) to meet the various
demands of food processing, this has not been fully
explored. Amylopectin is used in processed foods
because of its increased storage stability. Meanwhile,
high-amylose starch is used to confer desirable func-
tional properties to processed foods because it has excel-
lent gelling and film-forming properties (Juhász and
Salgo, 2008; Vesterinen et al., 2001). In normal maize,
starch contains approximately 25% linear amylose and
75% branched amylopectin. With genetic hybridiza-
tion, it has been possible to alter the ratio of amylose
to amylopectin in maize, to produce starch with greater
amylose content which have a large proportion of long
chains in their branched fractions compared to waxy-
maize and normal-maize starch. Commercially avail-
able high-amylose maize starches include Hylon V and
Hylon VII manufactured by Ingredion Incorporated
2
(Bridgewater, NJ, USA). These high-amylose starches
have approximately 50 or 70% amylose, respectively.
They give three apparent fractions as determined by
gel permeation chromatography: a high-molecular
weight (mol.wt) amylopectin fraction, a low-mol.wt
amylose fraction, and an intermediate-mol.wt fraction
which contains both linear and branched components
(Shi et al., 1998). Compared to normal maize starch,
temperatures used for heating high-amylose maize
starches are higher, depending on the soluble solids
level of the desired formulation (Shi et al., 1998;
Vesterinen et al., 2001). The ratios of amylopectin and
amylose solubilized during heating can influence the
properties of the starch gel. At high ratios of amylose
to amylopectin, amylose forms a continuous network
structure (Vesterinen et al., 2001). To improve and
facilitate applications of starch in food processing and
drug manufacture, physical properties (such as particle
size and particle size distribution, shape, crystallinity,
hygroscopicity, solubility, compressibility, stability) of
maize starches are modified by pregelatinization (Rojas
et al., 2012). Pregelatinization causes rearrangement of
intra/intermolecular hydrogen bonding between the
water and starch molecules resulting in the collapse or
disruption of molecular orders within the granule
(Odeku et al., 2008; Rojas et al., 2012). Enzymatic, ther-
mal (extrusion, drum drying, and spray drying), solvent
processing, oxidation, hydrolysis, and cross-linking
methods can be used to pregelatinize starch
(Adedokun and Itiola, 2010). During pregelatinization,
starch granules precipitate amylose and release amylo-
pectin. The resultant gel or starch powder has improved
water absorption capacity, flowability, higher packing
densities, swelling ability, low crystallinity, and high
porosity than natural starches (Rojas et al., 2012).
Such properties aid in the formation of a more uniform
and cohesive viscoelastic dough for production of vari-
ous pastas such as rice noodles. In addition, high-amy-
lose corn starch is added for lowering the glycemic index
of foods, thus helping in dietary management of meta-
bolic disorders (Hu et al., 2004; Loubes et al., 2016).
Since starch plays an important role in noodle quality,
manipulation of starch content and composition could
play an important role in improving the quality of
canned rice noodles. As far as we know, there is no
investigation on the effect of partial substitution of
rice flour with pregelatinized high-amylose maize
starch on the physical and textural properties of
canned rice noodles.
Therefore, the objective of this study was to investi-
gate the effect of pregelatinized high-amylose maize
starch (Hylon VIITM) partial substitution and chilling
treatment on various physical and textural properties of
canned rice noodles. It was thought that partially sub-
stituting rice flour with pregelatinized high-amylose
 Lubowa et al.

maize starch and subjecting the noodles to overnight
chilling treatment could improve the textural and phys-
ical properties of canned rice noodles. During chilling,
a short-term retrogradation of amylose and long-term
retrogradation of amylopectin occur, favoring the reas-
sociation of starch molecules to yield tightly packed
structures stabilized by hydrogen bonding (Dundar
and Gocmen, 2013). It could lead to a stronger cross-
linked network that would act as a barrier against
water penetration during retorting, favor a reduced
water absorption, and improve textural and physical
characteristics.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
Materials
Commercial rice flour (Erawan Brand) was acquired
from the local supermarket in Penang, Malaysia. High-
amylose maize starch (Hylon VIITM) from National
Starch and Chemical Company (Bridgewater, NJ, USA)
was used in this study. Aluminum cans (300  407) were
bought from a local supplier in Penang, Malaysia.
Rice noodle preparation
The formulation involved partially substituting rice
flour with high-amylose maize starch (Hylon VIITM)
in the ratios 5, 10, and 15% (wt/wt) flour basis. These
were labeled as H5, H10, and H15, respectively. The
rice flour and high-amylose maize starch portions
were weighed separately.
Pregelatinization of high-amylose maize starch. The
weighed maize starch was put in a 250 ml Chemglass
glass Schott bottle and three volumes of water were
then added. The starch was then pregelatinized by heat-
ing it at 130  C for 30 min in an autoclave (Dundar and
Gocmen, 2013).
Noodle preparation. The pregelatinized maize starch
(immediately from autoclave) was mixed with the rice
flour in a food mixer (Spar Mixer, Model 800-C, Spar
Food Machinery Mfg Co. Ltd, Taiwan, R.O.C). Hot
water was added and the mixture was kneaded using
the mixing blade of the food mixer until a homogenous
elastic dough was formed. The dough was then
extruded through cylindrical shaped molds of a hand-
held cookie press (Cookie press, model M21 Empire
Home living, Malaysia) to form the noodles.
Extruded noodles were immediately boiled in water
for 3 min and then removed with a strainer and trans-
ferred into cold water for 3 min. Noodles were then
strained and disentangled. A control sample (CTR)
was prepared from rice dough with 100% rice flour
and 0% pregelatinized high-amylose starch. Noodles
that were labeled as C had been subjected to an over-
night chilling treatment at 4  C. Noodles that were
labeled as NC had not been subjected to the overnight
chilling treatment. Noodles that were thermally pro-
cessed in a retort were labeled as R and those without
retort processing were regarded as fresh noodles and
labeled as NR (nonretorted). Table 1 summarizes the
details of sample designations.

Table 1. Designations of samples based on treatments and high-amylose maize starch substitution

Assigned sample designation Description

NR-C-CTR Control sample (0% high-amylose starch), cooled overnight, not retorted
NR-NC-CTR Control sample (0% high-amylose starch), not cooled overnight, not retorted
R-C-CTR Control sample (0% high-amylose starch), cooled overnight, retorted
R-NC-CTR Control sample (0% high-amylose starch), not cooled overnight, retorted
NR-C-H5 5% Amylose starch substitution, cooled overnight, not retorted
NR-NC-H5 5% Amylose starch substitution, not cooled overnight, not retorted
R-C-H5 5% Amylose starch substitution, cooled overnight, retorted
R-NC-H5 5% Amylose starch substitution, not cooled overnight, retorted
NR-C-H10 10% Amylose starch substitution, cooled overnight, not retorted
NR-NC-H10 10% Amylose starch substitution, not cooled overnight, not retorted
R-C-H10 10% Amylose starch substitution, cooled overnight, retorted
R-NC-H10 10% Amylose starch substitution, not cooled overnight, retorted
NR-C-H15 15% Amylose starch substitution, cooled overnight, not retorted
NR-NC-H15 15% Amylose starch substitution, not cooled overnight, not retorted
R-C-H15 15% Amylose starch substitution, cooled overnight, retorted
R-NC-H15 15% Amylose starch substitution, not cooled overnight, retorted

3
Food Science and Technology International 0(0)
Retort processing of noodles
Retort processing was adapted from Yeoh et al. (2014).
Approximately 50 g of noodles was filled into the alu-
minum can and filled with distilled water to leave a
head space of 7 mm. Before retorting, the noodles
were exhausted at 85  C for 15 min in a steam chamber
and immediately seamed with a can seamer (Metal Box
No. 1-A double seamer, London, UK). The cans and
their contents were retorted at 121  C for 30 min to
reach an F-value  4.5. After retort processing, the
cans were cooled under the cold running water and
stored at room temperature for not less than 2 h
before opening for further analysis.
Texture profile analysis
Textural properties of noodles were evaluated as
described by Bhattacharya et al. (1999) with minor
modifications. A software controlled texture analyzer
(TA-TX2 model, Stable Micro Systems, Surrey, UK).
The instrument was fitted with a 30 kg load cell.
Noodle strands were positioned straight and flat adja-
cent to one another and securely fastened to the plat-
form with adhesive tape. They were then subjected to
75% deformation in a compression mode using a
cylindrical probe (35 mm) at a pretest, test, and postt-
est speed of 2.0 mm/s. The trigger type was set at
auto-10g. From the TPA curve, textural parameters
of hardness, cohesiveness, springiness, and chewiness
were obtained. Each sample was analyzed in
triplicate.
RVA analysis for pasting properties
RVA analysis was performed on fresh flour blends and
on noodle powders. The fresh flour blends were pre-
pared by partially substituting rice flour with 5, 10,
and 15% (wt/wt) dry high-amylose maize starch
which had been pregelatinized by dry heat treatment
as described by Timgren et al. (2013). Rice noodle pow-
ders were prepared as described by Kim et al. (2014).
The noodles were dried in an air oven at 40  C for 12 h
and then ground into flour that passed through a
250 mm sieve.
A Rapid Visco Analyzer (RVA-4, Newport
Scientific, Australia) controlled by Thermocline for
Windows software (Ver. 2.2) was used to analyze the
pasting properties. Measurements were determined
using a weight basis of 3 g, moisture content basis of
12%, and water weight of 25.0 g. Hence, approximately
3 g of the sample was dispersed in distilled water
(25.0 ml) in an aluminum canister. The standard tem-
perature profile involved holding for 1 min at initial
temperature (50  C), heating to 95  C in 3.5 min, hold-
ing at 95  C for 3 min, cooling to 50  C in 3 min, and
4
then holding at 50  C for 2 min. The rotating speed was
maintained at 160 r/min during the whole process. The
RVA curves were evaluated in terms of peak, final,
breakdown, and setback viscosities.
Determination of noodle quality attributes
Water absorption. To measure the degree of noodle
hydration during retort cooking, the water absorption
was determined as the difference between noodle
weight before and after retort cooking according to
the method described by Khouryieh et al. (2006). An
average of three determinations was taken for each
sample.
Retort cooking loss. Retort cooking loss is defined as
the amount of solid substance lost into the can’s liquor
during the retort process. Retort cooking loss was
expressed as the ratio of residue weight in the cooking
water to the weight of the noodle on dry weight basis.
To determine the retort cooking loss of noodles, the
cans’ liquor was collected in a beaker and evaporated
to dryness overnight in an air oven at 100  C (SalvisLab
Thermometer hot air oven, Salvislab Industries,
Switzerland) equipped with a Fotek NT-96E controller.
The residue was weighed and recorded as the percent-
age of starting material (Kim et al., 2014; Yeoh et al.,
2014). An average of three determinations was taken
for each sample.
Noodle thickness. Noodle thickness before and after
retort cooking was determined using a manual microm-
eter (Dial Thickness Gauge Mitutoyo M1 7305,
Takatsu-ku, Kawasaki, Kanagawa Japan). Triplicate
measurements were taken for each noodle sample and
the incremental thickness calculated using an equation
adopted from Yeoh et al. (2014)
Increment thickness%
 
Noodle thickness after retort ðmmÞ
thickness before retort ðmmÞ
¼  100
Noodle thickness before retort ðmmÞ
Color. The color of noodles was analyzed following the
method described by Thomas et al. (2014), using a col-
orimeter (Model Minolta CM-3500D, Konica Minolta,
Co., NJ, USA) equipped with D65 illuminant using the
CIE 1976 L, a, and b color scale. A short noodle strand
was lined to cover the hole of the small target mask.
Measurements of L*, a*, and b* values were taken at
random locations on the surface of the noodles.
Measurements for each sample were taken in
triplicates.
 Lubowa et al.

Statistical analysis
All experiments were conducted in triplicates unless
otherwise indicated. ANOVA followed by Fisher’s
least significant difference test was used to identify the
significant differences among different samples and
treatments using IBM SPSS statistics 23 software.
Significance level was defined at P  0.05.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Textural properties as affected by retort
cooking, partial substitution, and chilling
treatment
Noodle texture is the most critical characteristic that
determines acceptance of the product. The main criter-
ion for assessing the overall quality of cooked noodles
is based on the evaluation of texture, which is perceived
as the resistance of the noodle to chewing and the
mouthfeel of its surface (Bhattacharya, 2011;
Bhattacharya et al., 1999). Noodles (canned or fresh)
should be neither too firm nor too soft (Choy et al.,
2012; Sandhu et al., 2010) and should have a high
springiness and chewiness.
Table 2 summarizes the results for selected textural
parameters (hardness, cohesiveness, springiness, and
chewiness) of the rice noodles. The fresh control sam-
ples NR-NC-CTR and NR-C-CTR had an average
diameter (thickness) of 3.5 mm, a uniform creamy
white/bright appearance, and an adequately hard tex-
ture stable to handling. In contrast, retorted control
samples R-NC-CTR and R-C-CTR had an increased
diameter. They exhibited reduced brightness; were
stuck together; and had a soft, soggy texture which
easily collapsed on handling.
Retorting led to a significant (P  0.05) decrease in
the hardness, cohesiveness, and chewiness of the noo-
dles. This similar decreasing trend was observed in all
samples. However, in the retorted noodles, hardness
increased with increased partial amylose substitution.
For fresh noodles that were not chilled nor retorted,
the order of hardness was H10 < H15 < CTR < H5.
Except for CTR and NR-H5, chilling led to significant
(P  0.05) improvements in the texture of noodles at all
levels of substitution with high-amylose maize starch.
The hardest noodle was NR-C-H15.
If hardness is to be equated with strength, the
increase in hardness at all levels of substitution with
high-amylose maize starch could be because more
amylose released into the starch gel when the starch
concentration was increased. The amylose starch acts
as a binding agent during extrusion (Fu, 2008), result-
ing in a continuous cross-linked matrix with good
mechanical strength which is transferred to the noodles.
It is a well-known fact that gel strength increases with

Table 2. Selected TPA parameters of the different rice noodle samples

TPA parameters

Noodle sample Hardness (g) Cohesiveness (ratio) Springiness (ratio) Chewiness (g)

NR-C-CTR 11,045.87  48.72a 0.41  0.03a 0.71  0.02a 3228.82  5.12a

NR-NC-CTR 10,693.96  24.45a 0.38  0.01a 0.61  0.07b 2454.94  4.65b
R-C-CTR 529.41  49.66b 0.15  0.01b 0.65  0.06c 52.01  5.01c
R-NC-CTR 421.66  23.91b 0.14  0.00b 0.79  0.03d 45.01  3.55d
NR-C-H5 11,340.08  46.43c 0.40  0.03a 0.75  0.03e 3367.43  4.21e
NR-NC-H5 11,288.41  67.89c 0.41  0.02a 0.50  0.01f 1790.07  4.93f
R-C-H5 588.17  33.06d 0.12  0.01c 0.61  0.03b 45.25  7.34c,d
R-NC-H5 562.03  55.66e 0.13  0.01c 0.69  0.03a 53.02  10.16c
NR-C-H10 13,432.20  94.32f 0.42  0.13a 0.83  0.03g 3637.59  5.26g
NR-NC-H10 10,134.57  27.02g 0.40  0.04a 0.67  0.08h 3696.41  6.43g
R-C-H10 767.69  60.15h 0.1 3  0.01c 0.67  0.08h 64.86  14.77h
R-NC-H10 656.87  71.92i 0.14  0.01c 0.69  0.06a 61.87  11.87i
NR-C-H15 14,489.69  62.94j 0.40  0.01a 0.73  0.03e 2747.98  3.51j
NR-NC-H15 10,240.27  98.27k 0.44  0.05d 0.60  0.05b 3550.76  1.25h
R-C-H15 782.63  77.11l 0.13  0.01c 0.68  0.04h 65.30  11.18h
R-NC-H15 653.17  52.01i 0.13  0.01c 0.67  0.02h 54.01  3.64c
TPA: Texture Profile Analysis.
Results display mean values  standard deviations (n¼3). Mean values within a column that have different letters (abc) indicate a
significant difference (p0.05) among samples.

5
Food Science and Technology International 0(0)
increased starch concentration (Collison, 1968). The
increase in hardness of noodles cooled overnight at all
levels of high-amylose maize starch substitution is
probably a result of the retrogradation process.
Retrogradation is the process that finally sets the
noodle structure so that it can withstand thermal tem-
peratures (Lu and Collado, 2010). The amylose and
amylopectin constituents aggregate during retrograd-
ation to form crystalline double helices stabilized by
hydrogen bonds.
During retorting of the noodles, the starch granules
absorbed water, swelled and ruptured. This interrupted
the structural integrity of the noodles and made them
softer. The amylose and amylopectin fractions in the
high-amylose maize starch plus the native starch
within the rice flour had different solubilities.
Therefore, they dissolved and behaved differently
during heating. The harder texture of retorted noodles
at high levels of high-amylose maize starch substitution
relative to the control could be due to a high amount of
amylose that formed a gel which helped the noodles to
retain their integrity (Vesterinen et al., 2001).
Gelatinization is believed to increase the binding cap-
acity of rice flour particles, thus improving noodle qual-
ity (Loubes et al., 2016).
In this study, the results for cohesiveness were less
obvious. Generally, substitution with high-amylose
maize starch led to a slight decrease in the cohesiveness
of the noodles. This was true for the R and NR noo-
dles. A similar decreasing trend was also visible regard-
less of overnight chilling of the noodles.
Springiness and chewiness are also important tex-
tural characteristics of noodles desirable for their
acceptance by the consumers. Springiness measures
how well a product is able to physically recover/
spring back from deformation. In this study, chilling
significantly increased springiness in NR noodles.
Increased amylose substitution levels significantly
increased the springiness in chilled noodles, with the
highest value recorded in NR-C-H10. Chewiness is
Table 3. Pasting properties of fresh rice flour–corn starch mixture by Rapid Visco Analyzer
RVA parameters
Sample Peak viscosity (cP) Breakdown (cP)
CTR 3433.67  59.23a 1013.33  30.99a
H5 2933.33  41.19b 766.67  12.34b
H10 2576.33  28.18c 607.33  16.77c
H15 2140.67  94.64d 443.33  34.08d
RVA: Rapid Visco Analyzer.
Results display mean values  standard deviations (n¼3). Mean values within a row that have different letters (abc) indicate a significant
difference (p0.05) among samples.
6
the product of (hardness  cohesiveness)  springiness.
It is thus the single parameter that incorporates three of
the most important textural characteristic of a product.
Chewiness values were increased by amylose substitu-
tion up to a level of 10% and decreased at 15% amylose
substitution in rice flour noodles. Retorting signifi-
cantly lowered the chewiness values of the noodles com-
pared to NR noodles.
Pasting properties: Influence of partial
substitution and chilling treatment
Tables 3 and 4 represent the pasting properties of fresh
rice flour–high-amylose maize starch blends and of the
dried rice noodle powders, respectively. The viscosity
profile of the fresh rice flour–high-amylose maize
starch blends is shown in Figure 1. Partial substitution
of rice flour with high-amylose maize starch signifi-
cantly (p  0.05) decreased all the RVA parameters.
This was true for the fresh flour blends as well as the
dried rice noodle powders.
Peak viscosity, breakdown, setback, and final viscos-
ity all decreased in the order 0% > 5% > 10% > 15%
pregelatinized high-amylose maize starch substitution.
Chilling of the noodles resulted into mixed effects on
the RVA properties of the rice noodle powder
(Table 4). For peak viscosity, C samples yielded
higher peak viscosities compared to NC samples. The
difference was significant (P  0.05) between the same
samples for 5 and 10% pregelatinized high-amylose
maize starch but not significant among the control sam-
ples and the samples with 15% pregelatinized high-
amylose starch substitution. Chilling lowered the
breakdown viscosity in H15 but increased it in CTR,
H5, and H10 in comparison to the NC samples. The
same trend was displayed by final and setback viscos-
ities for C and NC samples.
The peak viscosity signifies the maximum paste vis-
cosity achieved during the heating stage of the RVA
profile. The high peak viscosity of the rice flour with
Setback (cP) Final viscosity (cP)
2171.67  24.01a 4592.00  40.1a
1952.33  4.04b 4119.00  20.08b
1725.67  21.59c 3694.67  38.59c
1440.33  53.45d 3137.33  113.78d
 Lubowa et al.

Table 4. Pasting Properties of dried rice noodle powder by Rapid Visco Analyzer

RVA parameters

Noodle sample Peak viscosity (cP) Breakdown (cP) Setback (cP) Final viscosity (cP)

C-CTR 3073  11.4a 484  4.2a 2347  22.2a 4916  12.7a

NC-CTR 3025  7.6b 395  6.1b 2286  20.6b 5048  12.6b
C-H5 2579  11.4c 296  2.5c 2087  19.9c 4437  16.5c
NC-H5 2061  9.0d 176  6.0d 1322  22.6d 3200  2.9d
C-H10 2288  10.1e 133  8.5e 1802  20.3e 3967  5.0e
NC-H10 2148  11.1f 91  4.2f 1883  17.8f 3844  2.1f
C-H15 2101  6.7g 92  6.1g 1313  29.3g 3421  11.1g
NC-H15 2089  10.1g 106  2.5h 1820  7.5h 3839  6.7h
RVA: Rapid Visco Analyzer.
Results display mean values  standard deviations (n¼3). Mean values within a column that have different letters (abc) indicate a
significant difference (p0.05) among samples.

Figure 1. Viscosity profile of fresh rice flour substituted with high-amylose maize starch.

0% substitution may be attributed to a high amylopectin
concentration and reduced amylose content within the
rice flour (Tziotis et al., 2005). Amylopectin is known to
promote water uptake and swelling, while amylose inhi-
bits swelling during heating (Juhász and Salgo, 2008).
Amylopectin is also more susceptible to mechanical
shear. Thus, the primary cause of the high peak viscos-
ities observed in the 0% high-amylose maize starch sam-
ples could be related to the greater water uptake
and swelling by amylopectin (Zeng et al., 1997).

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Food Science and Technology International 0(0)
With a reduced amylose content in the rice flour, there
was hence more amylopectin than amylose molecules
leaching out, resulting in a matrix that is susceptible to
shear, thus an increased peak viscosity (Juhász and
Salgo, 2008). However, as the amylose content is
increased with substitution, the peak viscosity decreases
because of less water uptake and increased resistance to
swelling by the starch granules. In other words, the
increased presence of amylose inhibits the development
of viscosity during retorting (Tziotis et al., 2005).
Like the peak viscosity, the final viscosity was also
decreased as the amount of high-amylose maize starch
substituted for the rice flour increased. Though some
authors found contradicting results for the relationship
between amylose content and final viscosity (Hu et al.,
2004; Sasaki et al., 2000), our results are in agreement
with the finding of Juhász and Salgo (2008).
Setback and breakdown viscosities are regarded as
important attributes in developing noodles for heat
processing. Breakdown viscosity is negatively corre-
lated with elasticity of the paste upon temperature con-
trol. It measures the degree of susceptibility of starches
to disintegration during heating. Setback is related to
the degree of hardening during cooling, because of
association and recrystallization of solubilized starch
polymers and insoluble granular fragments during cool-
ing (Kim et al., 2014).
In this study, the lowering of breakdown viscosity by
substitution with high-amylose maize starch would
make great contribution to the rice paste formation in
manufacturing rice noodles which can survive the retort
process. It is postulated that the decrease in breakdown
could be attributed to amylose’s granule rigidity and a
higher gelatinization temperature, which confers to
starch granules and thus the noodles a resistance
which minimizes their breakdown during heating
(Tziotis et al., 2005).
Ideally, the setback viscosity should have increased
with an increase in high-amylose starch substitution.
Table 5. Water absorption, retort cooking loss, and incremental thickness of retorted noodle samples
Noodle Sample % Water absorption % Incremental thickness
R-C-CTR 223.6  1.1a 69.4  0.0a
R-NC-CTR 242.6  0.7b 66.9  0.0b
R-C-H5 215.7  2.4c 51.9  0.8c
R-NC-H5 234.4  0.5d 45.8  0.0d
R-C-H10 207.1  0.5e 47.2  6.1e
R-NC-H10 203.2  0.7f 47.2  0.0e
R-C-H15 182.5  1.4g 43.1  0.0f
R-NC-H15 183.8  1.8g 43.5  0.0f
Results display mean values  standard deviations (n ¼ 3). Mean values within a column that have different letters (abc) indicate a
significant difference (p  0.05) among samples.
8
Such a trend would have indicated that a high level
of amylose was released into the starch gel, resulted
in rapid retrogradation, and thus a harder texture.
However, the setback results observed are to the oppos-
ite and contrary to the hardness results observed in this
study. We could assume that other components in the
rice flour such as proteins, lipids, and nonstarch poly-
saccharides do also take part in network formation
during cooling, impeding the increase in setback
(Puncha-arnon and Uttapap, 2013). Also, since this is
a partial substitution, a reduction in amylopectin could
be reducing the solubilized polymers available for asso-
ciation during cooling.
Quality attributes of the canned noodles:
Influence of partial substitution and chilling
treatment
Table 5 shows the values of the physical quality proper-
ties of canned rice noodles as a function of the influence
of partial substitution with high-amylose maize starch
and chilling treatment. Starch retrogradation includes
short-term retrogradation by amylose and long-term
retrogradation by amylopectin, during which the reas-
sociation of starch molecules yields tightly packed
structures stabilized by hydrogen bonding (Dundar
and Gocmen, 2013). It leads to a stronger cross-
linked network that would act as a barrier against
water penetration during retorting. Therefore, an
increase in high-amylose maize starch substitution
into the noodles would favor a reduced water absorp-
tion. In addition, it could be anticipated that a chilling
treatment that gives more time for gelatinized starch to
retrograde would result in reduced water absorption.
These results agreed with those of Jeong et al. (2017),
which showed that high amylose content restricted
water absorption in rice noodles.
An increase in amylose substitution levels decreased
the incremental thickness. The incremental thickness
% Retort cooking loss Hardness (g)
1.9  0.06a 529.41  49.66a
2.4  0.03b 421.66  23.91a
2.6  0.08c 588.17  33.06b
3.3  0.11d 562.03  55.66c
2.8  0.04e 767.69  60.15d
3.6  0.02f 656.87  71.92e
3.6  0.15f 782.63  77.11f
4.1  0.12g 653.17  52.01e
 Lubowa et al.

Table 6. Color values for the different noodle samples

Color
Noodle
sample L* a* b*

NR-C-CTR 43.65  0.53a 1.33  0.02a 1.03  0.03a

NR-NC-CTR 47.77  0.60b 1.62  0.05b 3.34  0.26b
R-C-CTR 33.96  1.01c 0.84  0.03c 3.53  0.19c
R-NC-CTR 33.91  0.75c 1.17  0.12d 5.37  0.25d
NR-C-H5 51.14  0.97d 1.62  0.02b 3.50  0.28c
NR-NC-H5 47.99  0.56a 1.64  0.04b 3.78  0.16d
R-C-H5 34.05  1.01c 1.81  0.11e 6.15  0.45e
R-NC-H5 24.85  0.95e 1.44  0.11f 6.82  0.07f
NR-C-H10 50.02  2.17d 1.53  0.01g 3.27  0.21g
NR-NC-H10 48.85  0.48b 1.68  0.01h 4.17  0.16h
R-C-H10 32.31  0.18f 1.63  0.04b 6.38  0.34i
R-NC-H10 26.80  0.58h 1.78  0.18i 6.99  0.07f
NR-C-H15 50.58  0.95d 1.49  0.03j 2.77  0.12j
NR-NC-H15 47.92  0.19b 1.51  0.03g 3.73  0.04d
R-C-H15 32.34  0.49f 1.70  0.04h 6.21  0.15i
R-NC-H15 24.57  1.82e 1.48  0.01j 7.85  0.26k
Results display mean values  standard deviations (n¼5). Mean values within a column that have different letters (abc)
indicate a significant difference (p0.05) among samples.

was nonsignificant at p  0.05 for 10 and 15% amylose
substituted rice flour noodles, but was significant for 0
and 5% amylose substituted rice flour noodles.
However, the chilling treatment increased the incre-
mental thickness but reduced the water absorption. In
both C and NC samples, the water absorption during
retort cooking was in the order H15 < H10 <
H5 < CTRL. Thus, water absorption during retort
cooking was mostly promoted by amylopectin while
amylose inhibited water absorption through the forma-
tion of tightly packed, stronger cross-linked network
(Dundar and Gocmen, 2013).
Another useful physical property in evaluating the
ability of noodles to resist structural disintegration
during retort processing was retort cooking loss. This
represents the degree of solids lost from the noodle
strands into the cooking water. A higher cooking loss
is an undesirable quality in noodles since it results in a
sticky noodle texture and turbid cooking water. Solid
loss of starch noodles during general cooking should
be  10% (Kim et al., 2014; Tan et al., 2009; Yeoh
et al., 2014). Generally, cooking loss was affected by
partial substitution and chilling treatment. For both
C and NC noodles, retort cooking loss and hardness
increased with increasing levels of amylose substitution.
Chilling treatment, however, was able to reduce cook-
ing loss. For each level of substitution, a low retort
cooking loss was associated with chilling treatment
and increase in hardness. It is to note that cooking
loss of all the noodles was less than 10%.
Retort cooking loss is basically of soluble solids on
the surface. It is influenced by the leaching out and
recrystallization of starch from the noodle’s surface
into the cooking water (Tan et al., 2009). Generally,
during retorting, noodles absorb water and the starch
granules swell and burst, releasing amylose and amylo-
pectin into the paste network. If the network was weak,
more water could penetrate the matrix, leading to
excessive swelling and leaching of starch solids into
the cooking water. In this study, though, the water
absorption results did not seem to support the cooking
loss data. It is possible that the increase in percentage
retort cooking loss was due to reduced rice starch net-
work integrity at high levels of substitution. At high
levels of substitution, even though pregelatinized amyl-
ose was able to enhance gel formation (as evidenced by
hardness data), however, a less amylopectin network
was present and detrimental to retort cooking loss.
Percentage retort cooking loss was further reduced
by chilling. All C noodles showed significantly
(P  0.05) lower retort cooking loss as compared to
that of NC noodles. This is probably because the chil-
ling treatment had allowed a more complete formation
of amylose gel, leading to a stronger and compact
cross-linked network which offset the loss due to
reduced rice starch network.
Color is one of the important criteria used to judge
the quality of noodles. For commercial rice noodles and
vermicelli, bright white or creamy color is desirable.
The noodles should have slow discoloration with time

9
Food Science and Technology International 0(0)
after manufacturing (Charutigon et al., 2008; Fu, 2008).
High-amylose starch gives bright colored noodles while
increased starch damage is associated with poor noodle
color (Fu, 2008).
Color values of noodle samples are presented in
Table 6. Substitution of rice flour with high-amylose
maize starch generally increased the L* values and
decreased the a* and b* values. For high-amylose sub-
stitution, chilling increased the lightness of the noodles.
Over all retorting decreased lightness. R noodles had
significantly (P  0.05) lower color values as compared
to NR noodles.
L* values are related to the lightness of the product.
In this study, increased partial substitution with high-
amylose starch increased the whiteness of NR noodles
as compared to the CTR samples. However, there was
no significant difference in L* values of H5, H10, and
H15 sample. Most high-amylose maize starches, includ-
ing the Hylon VII used in this study, are white in color,
exhibit no undesirable flavors, and are very low in fat
content (Ozturk et al., 2009). The lower L* values for
the control sample would be attributed to the fact that
rice flour alone has several components including pro-
teins, lipids, carbohydrates which interact during pro-
cessing and thus lower the brightness of the product.
During retorting, there is disruption of the structural
network, which leads to leaching out of some of the
starch components into the cans liquor, thus lowering
the L* values. Another explanation could be that the
thermal treatment led to reactions such as oxidation,
Maillard reaction, among others, between the noodle
components which reduced the lightness of the product.
CONCLUSIONS
In this study, partial substitution of rice flour with preg-
elatinized high-amylose maize starch (Hylon VIITM)
improved the texture and brightness of fresh (not
retorted) noodles. Except for CTR and NR-H5, chilling
treatment led to significant (P  0.05) improvements in
the texture of fresh noodles at all levels of substitution
with pregelatinized high-amylose maize starch. Though
high-amylose content contributed to texture, this was
small compared to chilling. The highest hardness was
recorded in NR-C-H15. Elevated heating of canned
noodles induced changes in the textural and physical
properties of rice noodles. However, the results
showed that amylose and chilling treatment positively
reduced the impact of retort cooking on the quality
attributes of the noodles. It can be concluded that,
because high-amylose starch and chilling treatment
could improve the textural and physical properties of
noodles, they could be further tested to preserve the
quality attributes of canned rice noodles. Due to the
excellent gelling and film forming properties, coupled
10
with the fact that it is white in color with no undesirable
flavor, high-amylose maize starch could offer an excit-
ing new potential as an ingredient in rice noodle
processing.
DECLARATION OF CONFLICTING INTERESTS
The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with
respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this
article.
FUNDING
The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial sup-
port for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this
article: TWAS-USM postgraduate fellowship.
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