Impact of Noodle Formulation, Boiling Methodology and Their Interactions on Stable Hydrogen and Oxygen Isotope Ratios

• Published in: Foods Vol. 13; no. 6; p. 959
• Main Authors: Yang, Jingjie, Erasmus, Sara Wilhelmina, Sun, Qianqian, Guo, Boli, van Ruth, Saskia Marieke
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 21.03.2024; MDPI
• Subjects: Beef; Boiling; boiling processes; Cooking; Descriptive labeling; extruded noodles; Flour; Food; Fractionation; Gluten; gluten/starch formulation; Hydrogen; Isotope fractionation; Isotope ratios; Isotopes; Keratin; Mass ratios; Noodles; Oxygen isotope ratio; Oxygen isotopes; Ratios; Raw materials; Stable isotopes; Starch; Wheat; δ18O; δ2H; China; Germany; extruded noodles; gluten/starch formulation; δ18O; boiling processes; δ2H
• ISSN: 2304-8158; 2304-8158
• DOI: 10.3390/foods13060959

Stable isotopes are commonly utilized for the geographical origin verification of foods, including wheat. However, assessing processed products poses a greater challenge due to the alterations that take place during processing and which have not been fully elucidated yet. In the current study, the effects of the formulation (the mass ratios of gluten to starch), boiling process and their interaction on the stable hydrogen (δ H) and oxygen (δ O) isotopic ratios of wheat noodles were evaluated. The δ H and δ O of noodles with different formulations (the mass ratios of gluten to starch) as raw materials, in uncooked and cooked (boiled in water) noodles, were examined. The results indicated that the δ H of the boiled noodles ranged from -80.1‱ to -46.8‱ and were significantly lower than those of the raw materials, which ranged from -73.0‱ to -39.2‱, and the uncooked noodles, which ranged from -73.3‱ to -39.6‱. Oppositely, O was enriched in the boiled noodles, ranging from 27.7‱ to 31.3‱, compared with the uncooked noodles, ranging from 28.4‱ to 29.6‱. In addition, a significant interaction effect between the formulation and the boiling process was recorded for δ O. This study shows that the hydrogen and oxygen stable isotopic compositions of noodles were significantly changed during the boiling process, and the isotopic fractionation varies with the different formulations.