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In white salted noodles, the appearance of small, dark spots known as specks is a common problem. Some flours are more susceptible to the problem than others. Noopazyme® reduces the speckiness of fresh and stored noodle dough sheets. It also increases their overall brightness and whiteness. This impacts the brightness of the surface of cooked noodles, which is an important quality parameter. Noopazyme® also increases the firmness of cooked noodles and their tolerance to overcooking.
Pasta is traditionally made from durum wheat, which gives a firm and non-sticky product. However, some pasta products are made with soft and hard wheat flour or poor-quality semolina, which may have a softer texture and lower cooking tolerance than products made from high-quality durum semolina. Noopazyme® can increase the firmness and cooking tolerance of pasta products, while reducing their stickiness.
How lipases reduce stickiness and other problems in pasta and noodles
Lipases have a measurable firming effect on wheat-based noodles and dough sheets. This is thought to be due to the products of lipase hydrolysis forming complexes with the flour’s starch. These complexes are believed to inhibit the swelling of starch granules during cooking.
Texture measurements of wheat flour noodles and pasta show lipase's firming effect. The mechanism behind this isn't fully understood yet. But it's thought to be due to modification of the wheat flour's lipids which interact with the protein and starch fractions.
This hypothesis is based on differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) results in uncooked and cooked pasta. These indicate that starch and the products of lipase hydrolysis may form complexes. Amylose-lipid complexes change the starch fraction of pasta and noodles. It's believed that they inhibit the swelling of starch granules during cooking and prevent amylose from leaching out to the pasta surface and cooking water. That means less speckiness, stickiness, texture and color instability.