Physicochemical, Functional, Structural, and Textural Assessment of Asian Noodles Influenced by Native and Pregelatinized Mango Seed Flour: Waste Valorization Through a Value Addition Approach

The present study aimed to utilize mango seed flour (MSF) and its pregelatinized form (pMSF) at inclusion levels of 2.5%, 5%, and 7.5% in Asian noodles and to study their impact on physicochemical, microstructural, functional, and textural attributes. The peak viscosity (PV) of pMSF-incorporated noodle flour was lower (2832 ± 0.47 cP) than that of MSF (3072 ± 0.82 cP), indicating reduced swelling capacity due to pregelatinization. The addition of MSF and pMSF decreased the lightness (L*) and increased a*, b*, and hardness values in the formulated noodles. Microstructural studies revealed the presence of cracks in MSF noodles, while aggregating and cohesive surfaces were observed in pMSF noodles. At 7.5% incorporation, pMSF lowered the cooking time (5.25 min) with a higher cooking loss (1.38%), while 2.5% pMSF lowered the cooking loss (0.95%) with an optimized cooking yield (13.5%) and was synergized with higher organoleptic scores compared to the control, serving as a potential functional ingredient in noodle formulation.