Cereal Chem 56:202 - 209.  |  VIEW ARTICLE
A Scanning Electron Microscopy Study of Japanese Noodles.

J. E. Dexter, R. R. Matsuo, and B. L. Dronzek. Copyright 1979 by the American Association of Cereal Chemists, Inc. 

A scanning electron microscope was used to study changes in dough structure during Japanese noodle preparation (32% absorption) for a Japanese commercial soft wheat flour and a durum wheat flour of comparable protein content. The flour and sheeted dough from the Japanese flour had a more open structure than the durum sample. The starch granules of the Japanese flour were more conspicuous and more loosely held within the gluten protein matrix. For both flours, there was a progressive change in dough structure during noodle preparation up to the third sheeting. Examination of sheeted doughs of higher water content (up to 55% absorption), however, demonstrated that full gluten development is not achieved at noodle dough absorptions. The presence of 2% salt in the dough resulted in a smoother and more uniform gluten structure than that observed for unsalted doughs, and strengthened farinograph dough properties. When cooked, the internal structure of the better cooking quality product, Japanese flour noodles, exhibited less evidence of breakdown than the durum flour noodles.