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. 2025 Apr 23;14(9):1453.
doi: 10.3390/foods14091453.

Ethanolic Extrusion of Indica Rice Flour for Rice Noodle Production

Miaomiao Fu  1   2 , Xing Zhou  1   2   3 , Hong Sabrina Tian  4 , Yanxin Chen  1   2 , Zhengyu Jin  1   2   3
Affiliations

Ethanolic Extrusion of Indica Rice Flour for Rice Noodle Production

Miaomiao Fu et al. Foods. .

Abstract

Due to the absence of gluten, rice noodles require complex processing to achieve a desirable texture. This study developed ethanolic-extruded indica rice flour (EERF) as a novel gluten substitute to simplify rice noodle production. EERF exhibited a distinct V-type crystalline structure (7.89% crystallinity) and high cold-paste viscosity (1043 cP), enabling its use as a binder in rice dough. When blended with native indica rice flour (IRF) at 10-20%, the EERF-IRF premix formed a cohesive dough with water via cold gelation, imparting viscoelasticity and tensile resistance. Optimal formulation (15% EERF for the premix and 37% water for making the dough) yielded fresh rice noodles with reduced cooking loss (5.57%) and a reduced breakage rate (14.44%), alongside enhanced sensory scores. This approach offers a clean-label, industrially scalable solution for producing rice noodles with simplified processing and improved quality.

Keywords: V-type indica rice flour; ethanolic extrusion; rice noodle premix; rice noodles.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Particle size distributions of indica rice flour (IRF), no-ethanol extruded indica rice flour (NERF), and ethanolic-extruded indica rice flour (EERF).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Crystalline structures of indica rice flour (IRF), ethanolic-extruded indica rice flour (EERF), and no-ethanol extruded indica rice flour (NERF). V-type RC: V-type relative crystallinity; A-type RC: A-type relative crystallinity.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Cold-paste viscosity of indica rice flour (IRF), no-ethanol extruded indica rice flour (NERF), and ethanolic-extruded indica rice flour (EERF).
Figure 4
Figure 4
Hot-paste viscosity of indica rice flour (IRF), no-ethanol extruded indica rice flour (NERF), and ethanolic-extruded indica rice flour (EERF).
Figure 5
Figure 5
The water absorption of rice noodle premix with different ethanolic-extruded indica rice flour (EERF) contents. a–f: values with different lowercase letters are significantly different (p < 0.05).
Figure 6
Figure 6
Thermal properties of indica rice flour (IRF), no-ethanol extruded indica rice flour (NERF), ethanolic-extruded indica rice flour (EERF), and rice noodle premix with different EERF contents.
Figure 7
Figure 7
The scanning electron microscopy images of rice doughs. (A–E) were doughs prepared with rice noodle premix containing 10%, 12.5%, 15%, 17.5%, or 20% ethanolic-extruded indica rice flour (EERF) and a fixed water content of 36%, respectively.
Figure 8
Figure 8
Rheological properties of the rice doughs. (A,D) Storage modulus (G′); (B,E) loss modulus (G″); (C,F) loss tangent (tanδ). (A–C) Dough prepared with rice noodle premix containing 10%, 12.5%, 15%, 17.5%, or 20% ethanolic-extruded indica rice flour (EERF) and a fixed water content of 36%. (D–F) Dough prepared with 15% EERF in the premixed powder and varying water content (34%, 35%, 36%, 37%, or 38%).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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