Effects of Emulsifiers on Reheating Quality of Pre-cooked Flatbread
DU Qing-fei1,2, YIPARE Abudureheimu1, LIU Di1, WANG Ran1, CAI Ke-zhou1*
(1. School of Food and Biological Engineering, Hefei University of Technology, Hefei, Anhui 230009, China;
2. School of Modern Agriculture and Food Engineering, Chuzhou University, Chuzhou, Anhui 239000, China)
Abstract: To improve the edible quality of reheated pre-cooked flatbreads, an emulsifier-free sample was set as the control. The effects of monoglyceride, soy lecithin, diacetyl tartaric acid esters of mono- and diglycerides (DATEM), sodium stearoyl lactylate (SSL), and calcium stearoyl lactylate (CSL) on the moisture content, texture, water distribution, color, microstructure, Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectra, and sensory quality of flatbreads were investigated. The results showed that emulsifier types had significantly effects on the quality of reheated pre-cooked flatbreads. The DATEM group presented the highest moisture content (35.83%), which was significantly higher than that of the control group (31.97%). All emulsifiers significantly reduced the hardness of samples. The SSL group had the lowest hardness and chewiness values, which were 12 547.39 and 5 622.49 g, respectively. The soy lecithin group showed the highest springiness (0.88), and the CSL group had the highest cohesiveness (0.64). The CSL group had the highest L* and b* values of 60.33 and 23.54, respectively, and the SSL and CSL groups obtained higher color sensory scores. Low-field nuclear magnetic resonance results indicated that different emulsifiers changed the water distribution in samples. Scanning electron microscopy observations revealed that DATEM group formed a relatively compact, continuous, and homogeneous matrix structure, while the SSL group presented a relatively open pore structure. The main absorption peak positions of FTIR spectra in all groups were basically consistent, and no distinct new characteristic peaks were observed. It indicated that the effects of emulsifiers were mainly related to the non-covalent interactions and structural rearrangements among water, starch, protein, and lipid in the system. In the sensory evaluation, the SSL group obtained the highest total score (94.64), followed by the DATEM group (93.67). Comprehensive analysis showed that under the experimental conditions of this study, SSL was most conducive to reducing hardness, improving mouthfeel, and enhancing comprehensive sensory quality, while DATEM had more advantages in improving water retention capacity and maintaining matrix continuity.
Key words: emulsifiers; reheated pre-cooked flatbread; water distribution; texture properties; microstructure
Chinese Library Classification Number: TS236.9
Documentary Identification Code: A Article ID: 1007-7561(2026)05-0036-09
Published time on CNKI: 2026-09-01 14:02:21
Published address on CNKI: http://link.cnki.net/urlid/11.3863.TS.20260901.1131.003
