Effect of defatted coconut flour on functional, nutritional, textural and sensory attributes of rice noodles.

Summary: Defatted coconut flour (DCF) obtained after the coconut oil extraction was incorporated at different concentrations (0%, 10%, 20%, 30%, 40% and 50%) in rice noodles to increase the fibre and protein content. The functional characteristics of the flour blends and nutritional composition, colour, cooking qualities, textural, antioxidant properties, shelf life and sensory qualities of the noodles were assessed. The incorporation of DCF significantly (P < 0.05) increased Water Solubility Index (WSI), water absorption capacity (WAC) and oil absorption capacity (OAC). In contrast, properties like bulk density, foaming capacity (FC), emulsion activity and viscosity decreased significantly (P < 0.05). Nutrition analysis revealed that DCF‐enriched formulations had significantly more crude fibre, protein, antioxidant, polyphenol, flavonoid and mineral content than the control sample. Furthermore, the incorporation of DCF significantly (P < 0.05) increased swelling volume (2.33 ± 0.06% to 5.65 ± 0.21%), water uptake ratio (108.91 ± 0.03% to 191.21 ± 0.04%), cooking loss (4.61 ± 0.04% to 7.83 ± 0.02%), cooking time (2.62 ± 0.05 to 4.14 ± 0.04 min) and noodle thickness (0.21 to 0.27 cm). When DCF was added to noodles, the ΔE values were significantly (P < 0.05) increased, but the hardness, springiness, cohesiveness, chewiness, resilience, gumminess, L*, hue and chroma were significantly (P < 0.05) decreased. Higher sensory scores were observed when DCF was incorporated up to 10%. The shelf life of the optimised noodles (with 10% DCF) was also assessed. The optimised noodle samples have a shelf life of 351 days at 29 °C. In conclusion, noodles made with DCF had more protein and fibre than those made with rice flour. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]