HTST dehydration imparted a lower initial TPC and enhanced
microbial and color stability to semi-dried noodles. Moreover,
structural and molecular changes were detected with increasing
dehydration temperature. Starch gelatinization was partly induced
in HTST noodles, and high molecular mass protein aggregates were
developed mainly through S–S after HTST dehydration, as evidenced
by free –SH quantification and SDS–PAGE protein patterns.
As compared with MTLT dehydration, HTST imparted more compact
inner and surface structures to semi-dried noodles, with significantly
(P < 0.05) decreased cooking loss and retained textural
properties. Thus, it can be concluded that HTST dehydration
improved certain quality parameters of semi-dried noodles, in
spite of the small part of starch gelatinization.
Semi-dried noodles are still vulnerable to microbial contamination
despite the HTST dehydration treatment because of their
abundant nutrient substances, specifically during summer. Thus,
further preservation techniques based on the dehydration technology
concluded in this study should be incorporated to realize the
industrial production and distribution of these products.