A novel method to assess the mechanical behavior of Asian noodles during the sheeting process. I. The effect of repeated lamination

Noodle dough sheeting plays an important role in the development of the protein network that is essential for the production of high quality Asian wheat flour noodles. For the first time, a simple, fast and low cost method, based on analysis of the resilience (spring back) of the noodle dough sheet during the sheeting process, is proposed for a quick assessment of noodle rheology during noodle production. To demonstrate the efficacy of the method, the effects of repeated lamination and flour variety on the mechanical behavior of yellow alkaline noodle (YAN) dough sheets were investigated. The deviation of YAN dough mechanical behavior from perfectly elastic and plastic models was studied by the use of recoil strain (εr) and Hencky strain (εH). The relative resilience of noodle dough sheets at the last sheeting pass (εrf/εHf) was introduced as a tool for a quick determination of the rheological behavior of raw YANs. The parameter ThickD (the % thickness decrease during processing) was also determined to evaluate the mechanical response of noodle dough sheets during processing. It was demonstrated that ThickD can be used as a reliable means of assessing resilience and gluten network development in YAN dough sheets during the sheeting process.