ABSTRACT
@#Introduction: Rice noodles are widely consumed as a staple food in Asia. The main ingredient of rice noodle is polished white rice flour which lacks in nutritional components. Substitution of white rice flour with brown rice flour often results in noodles with better nutrient content but less favourable for cooking, textural and sensory characteristics. Thus, this study aimed to develop and characterise brown rice noodles substituted with mung bean powder at the level of 5% (g/100 g) and compared with other formulations. Methods: Four formulations of rice noodles were prepared using: a. 100% white rice flour; b. 100% brown rice flour; c. white rice flour with 5% mung bean powder; and d. brown rice flour with 5% mung bean powder. The rice noodles were produced by conventional extrusion method and evaluated for their proximate composition, cooking qualities and sensorial properties. Results: The results of proximate analysis indicated that protein (8.70g/100 g), dietary fibre (3.10g/100 g), ash (1.50g/100 g) and fat (2.40g/100 g) contents were significantly (p<0.05) higher in mung bean powder substituted brown rice noodles than that of white rice noodles (control). The blending of mung bean powder with brown rice flour had significantly reduced noodle cooking time and cooking loss. The sensory evaluation revealed that mung bean powder substituted brown rice noodles had similar consumer preference to control sample. Conclusion: The blending of mung bean powder with brown rice flour had substantially improved the nutritional value and cooking qualities of the brown rice noodles while maintaining consumer acceptability.