Textural, cooking quality, and sensory evaluation of gluten-free noodle made from breadfruit, konjac, or pumpkin flour

Three types of gluten-free noodle were made using flour of breadfruit, konjac, and blend of pumpkin and tapioca. Due to different characteristics of the three raw material, preparation were carried out in three different methods in three separate experiments. Breadfruit and pumpkin noodle were made by using a texturing agent: fermented cassava flour and tapioca flour, respectively. Whilst, konjac noodle did not need any texturing agent. This work aims to study the effect of preparation method of each type of noodle on textural and sensory properties of gluten-free noodles. Results showed that samples of breadfruit noodle had hardness ranging from 2520 to 3890 g and had preference score of 5.60 out of 9. Water ratio in pregelatinized flour, and proportion of dry breadfruit flour in noodle dough affected hardness of breadfruit noodle, while interaction of the two factors influenced hardness, adhesiveness and cooking time of breadfruit noodle. Cooking loss was not affected by preparation method. Cooking time of breadfruit noodle ranging from 3.11 to 4.77 min, and cooking loss ranging from 12.45 to 17.04%. Konjac noodle textural characteristics were affected by preparation method being examined. Konjac noodle had hardness of 3094 to 5204 g and adhesiveness of -406 to -920 g. Cooking quality of konjac noodle was not reported. Sensory evaluation of konjac noodle was influenced by preparation method, and the highest score for overall preference was 6.6 out of 9. Pumpkin noodle had hardness ranging from 2237 to 4954 g, and adhesiveness of -158.05 to -351.41 g, cooking time ranging from 2.30 to 5.0 min, and cooking loss was 11.20 to 27.38%. The highest preference score was 6.0 given to noodle containing 54% pumpkin flour.