Volume 8 • Issue 11 • 1000700 J Food Process Technol, an open access journal ISSN: 2157-7110 Open Access Research Article Journal of Food Processing & Technology J o u r n a l o f F o o d P r o c e s s i n g & T e c h n o l o g y ISSN: 2157-7110 Narisawa et al., J Food Process Technol 2017, 8:11 DOI: 10.4172/2157-7110.1000700 *Corresponding author: Tomoyuki Narisawa, Saitama Industrial Technology Center Northern Laboratory, Kumagaya-Shi, Saitama, Japan, Tel: +81-48-521- 0614, Fax: +81-48-525-6052; E-mail: narisawa-t@saitama-itcn.jp Received October 11, 2017; Accepted November 02, 2017; Published November 09, 2017 Citation: Narisawa T, Nakajima H, Umino M, Kojima T, Asakura T, et al. (2017) Volatile Compounds from Japanese Noodles, “Udon,” and their Formation During Noodle-Making. J Food Process Technol 8: 700. doi: 10.4172/2157-7110.1000700 Copyright: © 2017 Narisawa T, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Abstract Flavor is one of the important factors for udon, white salted Japanese noodles that are produced by mixing four, salt, and water prior to being shaped and boiled. Using dynamic headspace extraction-gas chromatography/mass spectrometry, we analyzed the volatile compounds emitted from the four, dough, and boiled noodles to clarify the formation mechanism of the udon favor. The volatile compound profles were analyzed by principal component analysis; those from the dough and noodles were compared to those from the four. Hydrocarbons were the main compounds emitted from the four, and aldehydes and ketones from the dough and noodle. These aldehydes and ketones were presumed to be generated from the enzymatic oxidation of unsaturated fatty acids by lipoxygenase (LOX) upon the addition of water. Notably, the abundances of aldehydes and ketones increased during the noodle-making process, affecting the volatile compound profles of the noodles. Noodles prepared from Nourin 61 four, which are preferred by consumers, had higher contents of aldehydes and ketones and higher LOX activity. Therefore, the unique volatile compound profles of udon may be generated by the LOX activity in wheat four, and these aldehydes and ketones may contribute to the characteristic udon favor. Volatile Compounds from Japanese Noodles, “Udon,” and their Formation During Noodle-Making Narisawa T 1,2 *, Nakajima H 1 , Umino M 1 , Kojima T 1 , Asakura T 2 and Yamada M 3 1 Saitama Industrial Technology Center Northern Laboratory, Kumagaya-Shi, Saitama, Japan 2 Department of Applied Biological Chemistry, Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, Japan 3 Department of Applied Chemistry, School of Advanced Engineering, Kogakuin University, Hachioji-Shi, Tokyo, Japan white (ASW) four is ofen used as the raw material for udon because it imparts superior color, color stability, and texture characteristics to the noodles. Japanese wheat cultivars, such as “Norin 61” (N61), one of the most popular wheat cultivars for udon, possess unique taste and favor and are favored over ASW four [13]. However, the use of new wheat cultivars, such as “Satonosora” (Sato), has resulted in noodles that are less favorful than N61-based noodles and increased the demand for favorful wheat four. Recently, Starr et al. [14] analyzed the volatile compound diferences of four from 81 varieties and landraces of common wheat using dynamic headspace extraction (DHE) followed by GC/MS; 72 volatile compounds were identifed. Tey reported that the modern bred varieties were characterized by higher levels of terpenes, pyrazines, and straight-chain aldehydes and lower levels of esters. Starr et al. [15] noted that variations in the wheat favor directly afected the favor of the end-product, such as bread. However, the mechanism of volatile compound formation during the udon-making process and the key compounds behind the udon-specifc favor remain to be determined. Tis study investigated the changes in the volatile compound profles during the udon-making process and clarifed the mechanism of volatile compound formation. We analyzed the volatile compounds in four, dough, and noodles using DHE-GC/MS and compared the changes in the volatile compound profles by principal component analysis (PCA). Some volatile compounds, such as hexanal, (E)-2- Keywords: Wheat four; Noodle-making process; Volatile compound profle; GC/MS; Lipoxygenase Introduction Flavor is one of the important factors for food, and there is growing interest in studying the favor characteristics of cereal products [1,2]. Some researchers suggest that the volatile compounds in cereal four may afect the favor of processed foods such as bread [3]; sourdough [4]; and extrusion cooking products of oats [5,6] and wheat four [7]. Noodles are a well-known, standard wheat product. In Asian countries, noodles made from wheat are favored over the white salted noodle “udon” or the yellow alkaline noodle “Chinese noodle”. In Western countries, these types of noodles are as popular as pasta. Pasta is one of the most studied cereal products. Te volatile compound profles of durum wheat (Triticum durum) and cooked pasta have been investigated [8-10]. Beleggia et al. [8] reported that the favor of pasta depends on the durum wheat cultivar. Changes in volatile compounds during the cooking process were analyzed using solid-phase micro extraction followed by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS). In cooked pasta, alcohols (i.e., 1-pentanol, 1-hexanol, and 1-octanol) and aldehydes (i.e., hexanal and benzaldehyde) were signifcantly linked to the presence of unsaturated fatty acids, such as linoleic and alpha- linolenic acid. Terefore, these volatile compounds in cooked pasta have been associated with the oxidation of unsaturated fatty acids. However, there have been few studies on the volatile compounds and their formation in Asian noodles [11,12] compared with those in pasta [8-10]. Suzuki et al. [11] showed a correlation between enzyme activities and volatile compounds in boiled buckwheat noodles. Tese studies compared the volatile compounds in the raw materials with those in their end-products. Udon is a traditional Japanese food; its shape resembles that of spaghetti. However, the udon-making process is simpler than the spaghetti-making process. Udon is made from common wheat (T. aestivum) four and water containing NaCl. Subsequently, the noodle is shaped and cooked. Te udon-making process does not require fermentation or any additives except NaCl. Terefore, the favor of udon is strongly afected by the wheat four itself and depends on the noodle-making process. Australian standard