Reduction of rutin loss in buckwheat noodles and their physicochemical characterization

Authors: YOO, JIYOUNG - Sejong University; KIM, YUJEONG - Sejong University; YOO, SANG-HO - Sejong University; Inglett, George; LEE, SUYONG - Sejong University

Submitted to: Food Chemistry
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 12/23/2011
Publication Date: 2/13/2012
Citation: Yoo, J., Kim, Y., Yoo, S-H., Inglett, G.E., Lee, S. 2012. Reduction of rutin loss in buckwheat noodles and their physicochemical characterization. Food Chemistry. 132:2107-2111.

Interpretive Summary: It is widely recognized that buckwheat has beneficial health effects derived from its phenolic compounds. Rutin, the primary phenolic compound of buckwheat, was shown to reduce the risk of high blood pressure, antagonize the increase of capillary fragility associated with hemorrhagic disease, prevent diabetes, and show antioxidant activity. In this study, hydrothermal treatments (steaming and autoclaving) were employed to inactivate rutin-degrading enzymes in tartary buckwheat before buckwheat noodles were prepared with the hydrothermally-treated tartary buckwheat flours. The beneficial health effects of buckwheat-based food products derived from their rutin content may be maintained by using appropriate processing techniques. There are no prior studies on the hydrothermal effect on the taste of buckwheat flour, so it is necessary to optimize different processing parameters for the industrially feasible and effective production of buckwheat food products without rutin loss for improved taste qualities.

Technical Abstract: Rutin in buckwheat flour is converted into quercetin by rutin-degrading enzymes when water is added. Thus, buckwheat was subjected to hydrothermal treatments for minimizing the rutin loss in buckwheat-based foods by water addition. When native buckwheat flour was mixed with water, the rutin content was distinctly reduced, increasing the amount of quercetin. However, the rutin content remained constant and quercetin was hardly detected in the hydrothermally-treated buckwheat flour. Also, the noodles prepared with hydrothermally-treated buckwheat flour, showed higher amount of rutin than that with native buckwheat flour. In addition, when wheat flour was mixed with buckwheat flour (7:3, w/w) for noodles, the use of hydrothermally-treated buckwheat flour gave less pasting parameters and lower viscoelastic properties. The noodle dough with hydrothermally-treated buckwheat flour had also greater water absorption and development time during mixing while the elongation stress of the noodle dough was reduced, compared to the native buckwheat flour.