In this study, to enhance corn flour incorporated noodles, corn flour was treated by the addition of 16% quercetin followed by microwave irradiation at 320 W for 30 min before being used as a partial wheat flour substitute in noodles. The effect of combined quercetin-microwave treatment on the processing properties of corn flour and the quality and digestion characteristics of corn flour incorporated noodles was investigated. The results showed that the treated corn flour had lower breakdown and setback values. Texture analysis revealed that the combined treatment resulted in the lowest gel hardness (103.94 g) and the highest elasticity (0.95) of corn flour. The noodles added with the treated corn flour had higher hardness, elasticity, chewiness, and resilience, lower cooking loss, and shorter optimal cooking time compared with the noodles with untreated corn flour. In vitro digestibility tests indicated that the resistant starch content in corn flour treated by quercetin combined with microwave was 26.45%. Compared with the wheat flour noodles, the resistant starch level in the noodles with the treated corn flour increased by 47.96%. Overall, combined treatment with quercetin and microwave appears to be an effective strategy for improving the quality and processing characteristics of corn flour and its products, providing valuable insights for developing high-quality, easily processable corn-based foods.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the physiological characteristics and nutritional quality of corn kernels during the post-ripening stage. Using principal component analysis (PCA), this study analyzed and comprehensively evaluated 14 physiological and quality traits of post-ripening corn kernels from two varieties (Zhengdan 958 and Xianyu 335), including water content and state, respiratory rate, soluble sugar content, α-amylase activity, catalase (CAT) activity, peroxidase (POD) activity, hexokinase (HK) activity, isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH) activity, fatty acid value, starch content, 1000-grain mass and rapid digestible starch (RDS) content. The results showed significant variations in various quality traits of corn grains during the post-ripening process (P < 0.05). PCA extracted three principal components, namely storage intolerance factor, yield factor and digestive characteristic factor, which explained 53.436%, 18.466% and 12.857% of the total variance, respectively, 84.759% in total. The post-ripening quality and time of corn could be determined according to the changes of F-value. The post-ripening time of newly harvested corn grains from Zhengdan 958 and Xianyu 335 were 50 and 30 days, respectively. The results of this study could provide a reference for the evaluation of the post-ripening quality of newly harvested corn and the processing and utilization of corn.