Comparative study on the quality characteristics of wheat-based broken rice noodles from different rice varieties

Making noodles based on broken rice (BR) is a green approach to promote the utilisation of rice byproducts (the underutilised bio-materials with vast annual production). In this study, BR of Indica, Japonica and Glutinous varieties were semi-dry milled to yield flour (BRI, BRJ and BRG). They were substituted for wheat flour at the level of 10% to prepare W-BRI, W-BRJ and W-BRG noodles respectively. Among three varieties, BRG showed greatest whiteness, highest relative crystallinity and lowest pasting viscosities. Substitution of all BR flours decreased percentage of α-helix but increased β-sheet in fresh noodles. BRG substitution markedly enhanced the binding tightness of water to gluten or starch. Owing to the strongest swelling power and lowest pasting temperature (59.1 °C) of BRG, W-BRG noodles showed shortest cooking time and highest cooking yield (190.64%). All noodles were sensorily acceptable, among which W-BRG noodles had the greatest softness and least stickiness. W-BRJ noodles presented more uniform and tightly packed microstructure, which might explain their lowest cooking loss (6.65%) and greater springiness. W-BRI dough sheet had the most viscoelastic, and its noodles had the highest cohesiveness (0.65). Selective utilisation of rice variety is crucial for producing noodles with characteristic quality.