Fortification of Wheat Based Instant Noodles with Surimi Powder: A Review

Noodles, commonly prepared from hard/soft wheat flour, is popular throughout globe due to its’ versatility, low cost, ease of preparation and nutritional quality. Commercial noodles are rich in carbohydrates, but deficient in essential nutrients, like proteins, dietary fiber and vitamins. Due to scarcity of Essential Amino Acids (EAA) like lysine and methionine in wheat-proteins, incorporation of EAA-rich-protein and fatty-acid-rich-lipids from other sources are important to improve the nutritional quality of noodles. Fish, being an excellent source of high-quality protein, rich in lysine and methionine, omega-3 fatty-acids like eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), along with vitamins like A, D, B6, and B12, minerals like iron, zinc, iodine, selenium, potassium and sodium, protein enrichment can be achieved by fortification of carbohydrate-rich cereal-based-noodle with dried fish surimi powders. This makes the fortified noodles nutritionally significant and the sensory attributes facilitate greater consumption. Attributes like taste, nutrition, convenience, safety, longer shelf-life and reasonable price have increased global acceptance of noodles and admiration by all generations. Thus, instant noodles are used as space and emergency foods. As consumers are becoming health conscious by preferring diet rich in fiber, protein and low fat, readily digestible fish protein incorporated noodles can satisfy their nutritional requirement.