Research on Evaluation of the Quality of Different Varieties of Highland Barley Flour and the Suitability of Noodle Processing

In order to clarify the relationship among nutritional quality of highland barley flour, processing quality and edible quality of noodles, the flour of 21 highland barley varieties in Qinghai Province was used as raw the materials. The key indexes for evaluating the suitability of highland barley noodle processing were screened out through correlation analysis and cluster analysis to construct an evaluation system for the suitability of highland barley noodle processing. The results showed that the contents of starch, fat, the fiber and the protein of highland barley flour were 69.95%~83.36%, 0.87%~2.38%, 1.13%~3.69%, and 6.88%~11.64%, respectively. Beiqing No. 8 (gate) had the highest peak viscosity (2 378.50 mPa·s), and Kunlun No. 15 (Dulan) had the highest regeneration value (756.00 mPa·s). Kunlun No. 16 (Guinan) had the best water holding capacity (4.32 g/g), and Chai Qing No. 1 (Dulan) had the highest oil holding capacity (0.94 g/g). Kunlun No. 14 (Guide) had the largest solubility (27.46%), and Kunlun No. 15 (Dulan) had the largest expansion (9.15%). Kunlun No. 18 (gate) had the greatest transparency (28.40%), and freeze-thaw stability was the largest (77.16%). The nutritional quality and processing characteristics of highland barley noodles were significantly related to the cooking quality and texture characteristics of noodles, flour water content, total starch content, resistant starch content, flour L* value and peak viscosity were the key indicators to evaluate the suitability of highland barley noodle processing. Through the construction of processing suitability evaluation system, the evaluation level of highland barley noodle processing suitability was determined. Beiqing No. 9 (Xining), Kunlun No. 14 (Xining), Kunlun No. 17 (Menyuan), Chai Qing No. 1 (Guinan) were screened out, while Kunlun No. 14 (Guinan), Kunlun No. 15 (Guinan) and other 6 highland barley flours were suitable for processing into highland barley noodles. The results of this study could provide a theoretical basis for the selection of raw materials for processing highland barley noodles.