Delineating the physico-chemical, structural, and water characteristic changes during the deterioration of fresh noodles

In this study, changes in fresh noodles during storage were evaluated at the physico-chemical, structural, and molecular levels. An increase in TPC and decrease in L(∗) value mostly occurred during the first 24h; the pH value significantly decreased (P<0.05) and proteins were partially depolymerized with the deterioration of fresh noodles, as evidenced by free amino acid determination and SDS-PAGE. Changes were also detected in the pasting and viscosity properties of the starch component. Moreover, the water sorption isotherm of fresh noodles decreased during storage, and the NMR transverse relaxation peak shifted right with an increased peak area between 10 and 100ms. MRI images showed that with increased storage time, the original structure was damaged and water distribution became non-uniform and migrated to the surface. TPC, pH, and L(∗) value were selected as the visualized parameters to characterize the fresh noodle deterioration, based on the correlation and factor analyses.