Cantilever beam bending as a potential method to determine the elasticity of cooked Udon noodles

Elasticity is a critical measure of the eating quality of Udon noodles. To characterize the elasticity of Udon noodles, an instrumental method based on the cantilever beam bending test was established. Firstly, the optimum test parameters were determined. Then, texture profile analysis, compression, tension, and cantilever beam bending methods were used to measure the elasticity of 25 commercial Udon noodles with different shapes and sizes, and the correlations between elasticity obtained by the above instrumental methods and sensory evaluation were analyzed. Finally, how the shape and size of Udon noodles influenced their elasticity was discussed in detail. Within the deflection of 2.0 mm, the force increased approximately linearly with increasing deflection, and moderate loading speed (0.5–1.0 mm/s) should be used in the cantilever beam bending experiments to improve the accuracy of results. The bending stiffness obtained by the cantilever beam bending method exhibited a higher coefficient of variation and stronger correlation with the elasticity of sensory evaluation than other instrumental methods. Furthermore, the Udon noodle sample with a higher size, especially the thickness, had higher elasticity, and the Udon noodle sample with a rectangular cross-section showed higher elasticity than that with a circular cross-section. In conclusion, the bending stiffness determined by the cantilever beam bending method could be used to characterize the elasticity of cooked Udon noodles.