Insights into the mechanisms underlying the quality deterioration of a novel frozen pasta product during freeze–thawed cycles

In this study, a novel frozen pasta product (direct-fried yeast-fermented frozen youtiao, DFYF-frozen youtiao) was developed, and its quality deterioration mechanism was explored from gluten. The comprehensive quality assessment revealed that DFYF-frozen youtiao essentially satisfied consumers' expectations. However, after 10 freeze–thawed cycles (FTc), its specific volume dropped, accompanied by an 83.3% reduction in gas production capacity. Meanwhile, FTc treatment resulted in a noticeable decrease in springiness and resilience, and increased the hardness and springiness by 32.8% and 44.5% respectively. The deterioration of rheological properties for DFYF-frozen youtiao dough during FTc was attributed to the loose gluten network, as evidenced by glutenin macropolymer depolymerisation, high hydrophobicity and weak thermal stability of gluten proteins. This study aims to offer technical guidance for producing palatable frozen youtiao with enhanced health attributes and understand the intricate relationships between the characteristics of gluten proteins and quality of DFYF-frozen youtiao.