Effect of microbial transglutminase on physical and textural properties of noodles made with Korean wheat flour (Geurumil)

The present study was attempted to investigate the possibility of modifying functional properties of Korean wheat flour by crosslinking proteins using microbial transglutaminase (MTGase) derived from a variant of Streptoverticillium sp. MTGase was added at various levels (3,000, 5,000, 7,000, 10,000 ppm) during noodle making with Korean wheat flour (KWF-Geurumil). Rheological properties of dough were determined by mixograph and farinograph. Texture profile analysis (TPA) using texture analyzer and sensory evaluation of cooked noodles were also conducted. Mixograph and farinograph showed that imported wheat flour (IWF) had strong dough stability. On the other hand, KWF showed very weak dough strength. However, addition of MTGase (3,000, 5,000, 7,000 ppm) resulted in improvement of dough stability of KWF. TPA results indicated that most of texture parameters (gumminess, chewiness, and hardness) of cooked noodles prepared from KWF were significantly lower than those of noodles prepared from IWF. However, dough stability and all the TPA values and sensory score (at the level of 7,000 ppm MTGase) on chewiness of cooked noodles improved significantly by addition of MTGase (at the levels of 3,000, 5,000, 7,000 ppm). These results suggest that dough stability and texture of cooked noodles as well as sensory characteristics could be improved by addition of MTGase to KWF.