Textural, Cooking Quality and Sensory Acceptability of Noodles Incorporated with Moringa Leaf and Sardine Powders

Noodles with varying percentages of wheat flour, moringa leaf and Sardine powders were developed and tested for texture, cooking quality, and sensory qualities. Various formulations were used to make the noodle samples. Noodles with moringa leaf powder were developed using in the following wheat and Moringa proportions in percentage: 99.6:0.4 (WM1), 99.2:0.8 (WM2) and 99:1 (WM3). Noodle samples containing sardine powder were created in the following ratios: 95:5 (WS1), 90:10 (WS2), 85:15 (WS3), and 100:0 wheat flour.

Textural qualities of the noodle samples were measured, including hardness, cohesiveness, springiness and adhesiveness. The inclusion of moringa leaf powder and sardine powder resulted in a considerable reduction in hardness and cohesiveness when compared to the wheat control. The noodles became softer and less cohesive as the concentration of moringa leaf powder or sardine powder increased.

The noodle samples' cooking loss, volume increase and water absorption were also measured. Higher concentrations of moringa leaf powder or sardine powder resulted in greater cooking loss as well as lower volume and water absorption. This implies that the inclusion of these powders altered the texture and water-holding capacity of the noodles.

Additionally, sensory evaluations were performed to determine the acceptability of the developed noodles in terms of color, aroma, texture, taste and overall acceptability. The results revealed that when the concentration of moringa leaf powder or sardine powder increased the sensory properties of the noodles samples were altered. Lower concentrations of these powders were related with greater acceptance scores in general.

Specific characteristics of the noodles-, such as color, aroma, saltiness and hardness were evaluated using quantitative descriptive analysis. The results showed that adding moringa leaf powder and sardine powders altered these properties with larger concentrations causing more noticeable changes.