Marigold powder is recognized to be a good source of lutein that plays significant roles in promoting the health of eyes and reducing age-related cataract risk. Because lutein cannot be synthesized in a human body, it needs to be supplied from the diet. However, there are no lutein-incorporated food products in a market other than capsules or powders. In this study, the processing performances of marigold powder in a fresh noodle system was investigated in terms of pasting, viscoelastic, and textural properties. In addition, the levels of lutein in the marigold powder-incorporated fresh noodles were quantitatively analyzed before and after cooking by HPLC. The pasting and dynamic viscoelastic parameters of wheat flour were reduced with increasing levels of marigold powder. The SEM images demonstrated that the wheat flour paste samples with higher levels of marigold powder show a highly cellular structure. However, the use of marigold powder at a level of 2% did not significantly affect the tensile properties of fresh noodles. When marigold powder was incorporated into the formulation of fresh noodles, their lutein contents were ranges from 61.22 to 204.91mg/100 g noodles. After cooking, the lutein contents were reduced by almost 50% while they seemed to satisfy the recommended dietary intake of lutein.

ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION
OBJECTIVES
MATERIALS & METHODS
RESULTS & DISCUSSION
SUMMARY

• Seungkyun Nam(Department of Food Science & Biotechnology, Sejong University, Seoul, Korea)
• Sungmin Jeong(Department of Food Science & Biotechnology, Sejong University, Seoul, Korea)
• Suyong Lee(Department of Food Science & Biotechnology, Sejong University, Seoul, Korea)