Study On The Application Of Alfalfa In The Cereal Foods

After analyzing the nutrition of alfalfa, flour, spaghetti and extrudates, the rhoelogy and baking properties of dough, the pasta properties of starch, the cooking quality of spaghetti and describing the ultrastructure of spaghetti and extrudates, the application of alfalfa (Guanzhong variety) on cereal food was studied.The result was as follow:1.the protein content of fresh alfalfa which was harvested during middle April was 35.21%, the lysine, the fibre, the iron, the calcium, the zinc and the selenium content was 1.59%, 15.17%, 237 mg/kg, 17690 mg/kg, 36.8 mg/kg and 0.043 mg/kg separately. The nutrition which was mentioned above of alfalfa were higher than that of flour. The first limited amino acid of alfalfa was methionine whose content was 0.27%. The alfalfa contained 10.93% water soluble protein which was equal to 31.05% of total protein and 0.27% salt soluble protein which equaled to 0.76% of total protein.2. With increasing of alfalfa added, the capacity of water absorption and dough soften degree increased, while the dough developing time and stabilization time shortened, the maximum extension resistance and extension energy of the dough decreased, and the volum-to-weight of the bread dropped. The wheat flour containing more and finer gluten had more capacity for the alfalfa adding than the flour with less and poorer gluten. The range of alfalfa addition to a certain kind of flour should be determined by experiments.3. alfalfa had the ability to improve the nutritive value of spaghetti and extrudates by increasing their protein, fibre and mineral element content. The extent of protein and fibre content increasing was dropping with the temperature and pressure of extruding rising.4. With the increase of alfalfa added, the optimum cooking time and cooking absorption of fresh noodle shortened; cooking loss and cooking protein loss increased. The sodium content could increase the cooking loss and decrease the optimum cooking time and have a little influence on the cooking loss and cooking protein loss.5.The alfalfa addition significantly influence on the flavor of noodle(p=0. 05); the influence of alfalfa granularity on the noodle flavor and total grade was significant(p=0. 05), while on the noodle color was highly significant(p=0. 01). the water addition had no significant influence on the noodle sensory evaluation. The noodle was getting better when the alfalfa became smaller. The sequence of influence on the noodlesensory was the granularity, the alfalfa addition and the water addition with the exception of the noodle chewness whose sequence was the alfalfa addition, the water addition and the granularity of alfalfa. With the 7% alfalfa addtion, 100 mush alfalfa and 47% water absorption water addtion, the best noodle was obtained.6.the alfalfa decreased the maximum viscosity, the viscosity of holding period and cooling period, the final viscosity, the breakdown and the setback by diluting the starch concentration before extruding. After extruded, however, the extrudates was similar to the pregelatinized starch that was able to dissolve hi cool water and viscosity of which dropped when the temperature rising.7. With the increase of alfalfa added, through the scan eletron microscope, the fiber and the loosen of the interior structure of spaghetti could be observed directly, which could support some of the results such as the fibre content and the cooking loss was increasing.