This study involved the
production of wheat-grain pasta, using an extruder, and examined the operating
environment of the extruder, in an attempt to simplify the pasta-making
process. It was also an attempt to develop an unprecedented wholewheat noodle.
Experiments were
separated into two main processes: milling and noodle making, or processing. In
the milling experiment, optimal operating conditions, which yielded finely
milled hulls and albumen, were achieved by combining a reverse-screw and
kneading-disk, increasing the revolutions per minute of the screw and/or
decreasing the supply rate of the raw material.
In the production of
noodles, the amount of water added profoundly affected the resulting noodles'
physical properties. When noodles were made with small amounts of water, starch
was gelatinized or protein was denatured by heat resulting from the high
pressures generated by dough passing through the die. As a result, the noodles'
tensile strength increased. On the other hand, noodles made from a dough
containing greater moisture closely resembled noodles now on the market.
A novel wholewheat
noodle was produced by combining the milling and processing steps into one
continuous sequence using a single extruder. In this experiment, a high screw
revolution rate and large water volume were found to achieve a noodle
possessing an acceptably low tensile strength.
By using an extruder,
wholewheat noodles were successfully created from wheat grain. This also
demonstrated the ability of the extruder to mill wheat grain and process
noodles in one continuous sequence of events.