To accelerate the fermentation rate and reduce the adverse effects of undesirable microorganism contamination on rice noodle quality, the pure inoculum fermentation method was used to produce fermented rice noodles. The results indicated that the pure inoculum fermented rice slurry required 10 h to reach a stable pH value. While, the pH value of the natural, pure and natural inoculum fermented rice slurries required 54, 18 and 20 h to stabilize, respectively. Free amino acids and lactic acid concentrations of the pure inoculum fermented rice slurry were higher than those of the natural and natural inoculum fermented rice slurries. The pure inoculum fermentation modified the proximate composition and lowered the pasting viscosities of the rice flour. The texture, cooking and eating qualities of the pure inoculum fermented rice noodles were similar to those of the natural fermented ones. In addition, the pure inoculum fermented rice noodles had higher relative contents of aldehydes than other fermented rice noodles and thus had a better flavor. Therefore, pure inoculum fermentation accelerated the fermentation rate and improved the rice noodle flavor while maintaining the texture, cooking and eating qualities of the rice noodles.
Keywords: Lactobacillus plantarum; fermentation rate; inoculum; rice noodle quality.