Effect of fructose on the processing, micro- and macrostructural properties of starch noodles containing cassava starch.

This study dynamically monitored the effect of fructose concentration on the processing properties and structural transformation of starch noodles during production. With increasing fructose concentration (0-8 %), G', G", and hardness of starch dough decreased, while pasting temperature rose, and breakdown and setback value decreased. During heating, fructose increased Tp (from 49.22 °C to 52.99 °C) and XRD crystallinity (from 1.29 % to 3.58 %) of starch gels. During cooling, fructose increased the heterogeneity, short- and long-range ordered structure of retrograded starch gels, indicated by increasing melting temperature range, melting enthalpy (from 1.17 J/g to 1.83 J/g), R1047/1017 (from 0.564 to 0.585), and XRD crystallinity (from 2.66 % to 6.31 %). Starch gels with 5 % fructose showed highly packed crystalline lamellae. For noodles, 5 % fructose yielded smoother appearance, higher acceptability, lower adhesiveness, and less merging than 2 % or 8 % fructose. These findings potentially highlight fructose could enhance the processing performance of starch noodles containing cassava starch.