Quality attributes and cooking properties of commercial Thai rice noodles

One of the most popular and abundant traditional foods in Asian countries is dried rice noodles. In fact, the demand for this product has increased steadily around the world in recent years. The qualities of rice noodles are directly related to the specific preferences of consumers. Hence, the present study aimed to determine the properties of eight commercial dried rice noodles that are readily available in most Thai markets. The specific properties under investigation and comparison in this study were proximate composition, amylose content, color, pasting quality, cooking quality, texture, and sensory properties. The specimens were divided into two groups: white (A, B, C, D, and E) and colored rice noodles (F, G, and H). The results showed that the proximate composition, amylose content, and color of both white and colored rice noodles were significantly different (p < 0.05). The lowest cooking losses in white and colored rice noodles were 0.11% (B) and 2.03% (G) (p < 0.05), respectively. Higher values of pasting (setback and final viscosities) and texture properties (tensile strength and extensibility) provided higher overall acceptability. The highest scores for acceptability of white and colored rice noodles were 7.00 (B) and 5.87 (H) (p < 0.05), respectively.