Improving hydration properties of baked ramen noodles

方便面是一种受欢迎的产品，易于制备，在零售业务中占有重要的市场份额。这些方便面在世界各地广泛消费，是面条行业快速增长的部门。然而，这类产品的一个关键属性是它们在包装之前被油炸，因此具有较高的脂肪含量。富含反式脂肪酸的部分氢化植物油的使用存在与肥胖和心脏相关疾病相关的潜在健康问题。由于消费者对更健康产品的需求，食品公司正在努力满足这些需求。Campbells Soup就是这样一家公司。最近，制作拉面的流程从油炸步骤转变为烘焙步骤。与油炸相比，烘焙步骤使速溶产品的健康属性更有利。然而，消费者对这些烤拉面的接受度相当低。这是由于即时复溶过程中的水合作用较差。该问题可能是由于烘焙后淀粉结构改变，使得水合动力学改变和/或由于烘焙产品中存在的蛋白质-淀粉相互作用改变。为了提高拉面的复水质量，从而提高消费者对拉面的接受度，必须了解从原料到加工到最终产品的拉面制作过程中主要成分的相互作用。改善烘焙拉面的烹饪品质将增加消费者对烘焙拉面的接受度，并通过减少与拉面消费相关的健康问题最终使消费者的健康受益。

Instant noodles are a popular product that is easy to prepare and with a significant market share in the retail business. These instant noodles are widely consumed throughout the world and are a fast growing sector of the noodle industry. However, a key attribute of this class of products is that they are fried prior to packaging and thus have higher fat content. The use of partially hydrogenated vegetable oils which are rich in trans-fatty acids present potent health issues related to obesity and heart related diseases. Due to consumer demands for healthier products, food companies are striving to meet these demands. One such company is Campbells Soup. Recently the flow process for making their Ramen noodles shifted from including a frying step to a baking step. The baking step made the health attributes of instant products more favorable in comparison to frying. However, the consumer acceptance of these baked Ramen noodles is quite low. This is attributed to poor hydration during instant reconstitution. This problem is likely to be due to altered starch structure following baking such that the kinetics of hydration is altered and/or due to altered protein-starch interactions that exist in the baked product. To improve the rehydration quality and hence consumer acceptability of Ramen noodles, it is imperative to understand the major component interactions in the process of making Ramen noodles from raw ingredients, through processing to the final product. Improving the cooking qualities of baked Ramen noodles will increase consumer acceptance of the baked noodles and ultimately benefit the well being of consumers by reducing the health issues related to the consumption of Ramen noodles.