Assessing the Impact of Arabinoxylans on Dough Mixing Properties and Noodle-Making Performance through Xylanase Treatment

This study examined the impact of xylanases, focusing on the hydrolysis of water-extractable (WE-AX) and water-unextractable arabinoxylans (WU-AX) and on the quality and noodle-making performance of flours with varying gluten strengths. Flours categorized as strong (S), medium (M), and weak (W) were treated with two xylanases (WE and WU) at concentrations ranging from 0.01% to 0.2%. Parameters such as solvent retention capacity (SRC), SDS sedimentation volume, dough mixing properties, and noodle characteristics were measured. The SRC revealed that flour S had the highest water-holding capacity, gluten strength, and arabinoxylan content. Xylanase treatment reduced water SRC values in flour S and increased the SDS sedimentation volume, with a greater effect from xylanase WU, indicating the potential enhancement of gluten strength. The impact of xylanases was pronounced at higher enzyme concentrations, with differences in dough mixing properties, resistance, and extensibility of fresh noodles, producing softer and stretchable noodles. Cooked noodles made from flours treated with xylanase were softer and had decreased firmness and chewiness, especially those made from flours S and M. This study concludes that WE-AX and WU-AX influence noodle texture; therefore, controlling their degradation with xylanases can produce noodles with varied textures, depending on the gluten strength of the flour.