Quality Evaluation of Instant Noodles Prepared from Blends of Wheat, Local Rice, and Water Yam Composite Flours

The study was done to evaluate the cooking and sensory quality of instant noodles produced from blends of local rice, water yam, and wheat composite flours. Mixture D-Optimal Design for three variables was used. The study took place at the Department of Food Technology, Abia State Polytechnic, Aba between January 2021 and December 2023. The statistical software package was used to generate the experimental design matrix, analyze the experimental data and develop the regression model, and the total number of experiments N was= 10. The minimum and maximum values for component proportions for the flour blends are given as: 20<=X1<=100, 0<=X2<=50, 0<=X3<=30. X1 = content of hard wheat flour (%), X2 = content of rice flour (%), and X3 = content of water yam flour (%). The cooking time of the instant noodles (5.25 - 7.05 min), cooked weight (3.08 - 3.99 g), and cooking loss (0.11 - 0.6 g/g) varied significantly (p<.05). The major factor that affected the cooking quality was the increase in the rice flour component of the mixture components. The protein content (3.07 - 7.42%) decreased significantly with an increase in the water yam component of the blends. The mixture response surfaces of the sensory analysis depicted a progressive decrease in preference for appearance, flavor, mouthfeel, taste, and overall acceptability with increase in the rice and water yam components of the mixture. However, noodles made from 100:0:0 (wheat flour) was not statistically (p>.05) different from noodles made from 75:25 (wheat: rice) composite flour in all the sensory attributes except for the taste preference. The coefficients of the components implied that the local rice flour was a better substitute for wheat than water yam. Noodles made from 75:25 (wheat: rice) composite flour can be used to produce instant noodles that can compete with noodles in the market made from 100% wheat flour. Noodles made from 75:25 (wheat: rice) composite flour can be used to produce instant noodles that can compete with noodles in the market made from 100% wheat flour.