An insight into rheological and microstructural characteristics of noodle doughs fortified with ungerminated or germinated moringa seed flour and quality of formulated dry noodles

Moringa sprouts are a good dietary source of glucosinolates and isothiocyanates with various health benefits, including anti-cancer and anti-inflammatory properties. In this research, germinated (GMSF) or ungerminated moringa seed flour (UMSF) was incorporated into traditional staple foods to develop novel functional foods using dry noodles as a case study. The results demonstrated that GMSF addition significantly increased the pasting temperature (by 5.15 %) and peak time (by 20.98 %) of the flour blends relative to the ungerminated counterpart (p < 0.05), therefore delaying the gelatinization process of starch granules. In addition, compared to the control (WF100 samples), the viscoelasticity of the dough samples raised (by 18.38-31.71 %, as indicated by the storage modulus coefficient k') with up to 10 % GMSF addition, indicating that the presence of GMSF (5-10 %) strengthened the dough microstructure and thus resulted in a stiffer solid gel. Moreover, GMSF addition improved the cooking attributes of the fortified dry noodles, with less cooking loss (5.33-7.06 %). Furthermore, the textural characteristics of the dry noodles were also improved significantly (p < 0.05), yielding a chewier and more resilient, while less adhesive texture. Although the overall acceptability of the fortified noodles decreased, the content of bioactive moringin in the fortified noodles ranged from 0.46 to 2.05 μmol/g on a dry weight basis, which may confer chemoprotective effects to consumers. Overall, the findings suggest that GMSF could be a functional ingredient to be supplemented into dry noodles to enhance their edible qualities and health beneficial effects.