Inhibition of L-Cysteine on the Browning of Fresh Wet Noodles

Xin-Ting Wu; Xiao-Na Guo; Ke-Xue Zhu

doi:10.3390/foods10061156

Inhibition of L-Cysteine on the Browning of Fresh Wet Noodles

Foods. 2021 May 21;10(6):1156. doi: 10.3390/foods10061156.

Authors

Xin-Ting Wu¹, Xiao-Na Guo¹, Ke-Xue Zhu¹

Affiliation

¹ State Key Laboratory of Food Science and Technology, School of Food Science and Technology, Jiangnan University, 1800 Lihu Avenue, Wuxi 214122, China.

Abstract

This research explored the effect of L-cysteine on the browning of fresh wet noodles (FWN). With the increasing addition of L-cysteine (0.02-0.1%), the ΔL* decreased and Δa*, Δb* increased. The L-cysteine could reduce the pH value and polyphenol oxidase (PPO) activity and increase the retention rate of polyphenol of FWN. It suggested that L-cysteine could inhibit the browning of FWN by decreasing pH value, PPO activity, and the oxidation of polyphenols. In the in vitro PPO solution, the inhibitory effect of L-cysteine on PPO activity was related to the decrease in pH and the ability of chelating Cu²⁺. According to UPLC-TOF-MS analysis, L-cysteine could reduce the generation of browning products, which suggested that L-cysteine could react with the browning intermediate product (quinone) and generate a light-colored substance (-C₉H₁₀NO₄S). L-cysteine effectively inhibited the browning of FWN and had the potential to be used in noodle industry.

Keywords: FWN; L-cysteine; browning; inhibition; mechanism.

Abstract

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