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Effects of LAB Fermentation on Physical Properties of Oat Flour and Its Suitability for Noodle Making

¹Graduate research assistant and professor, respectively. The State Key Laboratory of Food Science and Technology, School of Food Science and Technology, Jiangnan University, Wuxi, Jiangsu 214036, China. ²Corresponding author. Phone/Fax: (+86) 510 859 19139. E-mail: wnhuang@jiangnan.edu.cn ³Professor, Robert M. Kerr Food & Agriculture Products Research Center, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK 74078. ⁴Research scientist. The Guangdong Kailan Flour Foods Co., Kaiping, Guangdong, China.

Flour was obtained from oats fermented with lactic acid bacteria (LAB) to study the effect of fermentation on the physical properties and the suitability of fermented oats for use in starch noodle production. The results showed that fermented samples had a significantly lower pH than control samples. Gel strength and amylose content initially increased and then decreased (P < 0.05) with fermentation time. The peak viscosity, breakdown, final viscosity, and setback value decreased with fermentation time. Fermented noodles showed a higher hardness and springiness. In particular, Lactobacillus plantarum (LP) induced the highest springiness, cohesiveness, gumminess, chewiness, and resilience over 12 hr of fermentation. The cooking quality evaluation indicated that fermentation improved the quality of oat starch noodles. Fermented oats resulted in noodles with low cooking loss and higher cooking weight compared to noodles made from fresh flour. The use of LP for 12 hr of fermentation time yielded noodles of the best quality.