Starch is the major dietary source of carbohydrates. Starches from different botanical sources significantly differ in physicochemical and functional properties, which have different effects on the quality of wheat noodles. In this study, wheat flour was used as the major ingredient to prepare wet noodles with 20% added cereal, legume, or potato starch. The effect of the addition of starches from different botanical sources on the functional properties of wheat flour, the rheological properties and microstructure of dough sheets, and the cooking quality and textural properties of noodles was explored. Samples without added exogenous starch were used as control. The results showed that the swelling power of wheat flour added with potato starch was higher (at temperatures > 65 ℃). The addition of broad bean starch resulted in lower breakdown value (551 BU) and higher setback value (1455 BU) of wheat flour. Compared with the control and all other starches, the internal microstructure of dough sheets supplemented with legume starch, especially broad bean starch, was denser and more homogenous, with higher viscoelasticity (storage modulus and loss modulus) and lower loss factor (tanδ). The cooking loss of noodles with added broad bean starch was the second lowest, the hardness and chewiness were moderate, and the tensile properties were better. The results of the present study provide a theoretical basis for the application of starches from different botanical sources in wet wheat noodles, and also provide a new idea for further improving the quality of special flour for wheat noodles.

Crude starches (C-S-1, C-S-2, C-S-3 and C-S-4) were prepared the dough method from wheat flours with different processing degrees from the wheat processing line, the front (S-1), middle (S-2 and S-3) and back (S-4) flour mill streams, and refined starches (R-S-1, R-S-2, R-S-3 and R-S-4) were obtained after the removal of yellow waste slurry. The effects of the retention or removal of yellow waste slurry on physicochemical indexes, pasting properties, gelatinization properties, granular morphology and crystal structure of wheat starch were investigated. It was shown that the particle size of the crude starches was larger than that of their refined counterparts (D₁₀ 7.51–8.26 μm versus 6.46–7.70 μm). High contents of impurities, specifically ash, crude protein and pentosan, were found in the crude starches than their refined counterparts. X-ray diffraction analysis showed that both crude and refined starches had an A-type crystalline structure, and the relative crystallinity of the latter was higher than that of the former. Their paste properties were significantly different. The refined starches had higher transparency, peak viscosity, final viscosity and trough viscosity but lower solubility and swelling strength than the crude starches. There was no significant difference in textural properties between the crude and refined starch gels, except that the hardness and gel strength of the back-stream starch were higher than those of the front- and middle-stream starches.