Rice Noodles: Quality Improvement, Processing Techniques and Nutritional Aspects

Rice is a fundamental principal food for more than half of the world’s people, providing more than 20% of the calories consumed globally, particularly in Latin America and West Indies, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia. Rice is usually consumed as fully mature grains in the form of whole kernels after boiling in excess water or cooking using a certain amount of water. Besides traditional consumption, rice has been increasingly used as an ingredient of various food formulations including rice-based products. Rice-based food products are commonly consumed globally, providing up to 43% and 46% of dietary protein and dietary energy in the sub-Saharan region, respectively. Rice noodles, also known as rice noodle strips or rice vermicelli, based on the rice flour or rice starch obtained by wet-milling, are one of the popular types of rice-based products consumed in Asian countries. There are various sizes and shapes of rice noodles, namely short and long, round and flat, and thin and thick. Traditionally, rice noodles are made from long-grain rice with intermediate to high amylose content. Since amylose networks play a crucial role in the structure of rice noodles, high amylose rice is often utilized for making rice noodles. Nonetheless, rice noodles made from different rice cultivars give different qualities. Amylose plays a crucial role in regulating the glycemic index. Starchy foods that are rich in amylose are linked to slower emptying of the human gastrointestinal tract and lower blood glucose levels compared to those with low levels of amylose. Indeed, rice noodles are the potential rice-based products that can be formulated to be a lower glycemic index value compared to other rice products. The literature reported on rice noodles as well as their nutritional aspect, quality improvement, and processing technique has not well been adequately covered in the current literature.

“Rice Noodles: Quality Improvement, Processing Techniques and Nutritional Aspects” discusses several issues associated with rice noodles, namely classification of noodles, processing of rice noodles, raw materials and their roles, factors affecting the qualities of rice noodles, qualities and nutritional values improvement of rice noodles, the glycemic index of the rice noodles, and future prospects. By summarizing all the literature cohesively in one brief, this work provides a cohesive overview of the processing and production of rice noodles, highlighting the factors essential for the quality of rice noodles as well as their nutritional values and glycemic index. The work provides a better understanding of the rice noodles production and processing.