Improvement of rice noodle quality by saturated-steam heat moisture treatment

Heat moisture treatment (HMT) of starch granules is a successful technique for enhancing rice noodle quality; however, conventional HMT is time-consuming. In this study, efficient saturated-steam HMT (SS-HMT) was employed for gel modification to enhance rice noodle quality. This treatment was performed under saturated steam (produced under atmospheric pressure in a water bath at 100 °C) for brief durations (5, 10, 15, and 20 min), and the underlying mechanism was investigated by examining the variation in starch multiscale structures. SS-HMT disrupted the short double helices and single helices and promoted the formation of longer double helices through rearrangement, increasing the network tie-point size and starch thermal stability. High thermal stability reduced starch leaching and minimized damage to the gas cell walls during cooking, resulting in thicker gas cell walls that enhanced the samples' mechanical strength. SS-HMT markedly improved rice noodle quality. Compared with the control group, rice noodles treated with SS-HMT for 10 min exhibited a 56.05 % reduction in cooking loss, a 100 % decrease in breakage rate, a 48.46 % increase in hardness, and a 24.68 % decrease in adhesiveness. This study provides a straightforward and efficient strategy for improving rice noodle quality.