# Characteristics of Wheat Noodle “Kitanokaori” Using Weakly Acidic Hard Water in Terms of Functional Qualities, Such as Inhibiting Postprandial Abrupt Increase in Blood Glucose

## TL;DR

Wheat noodles made with weakly acidic hard water from a new wheat variety may help reduce blood sugar spikes after meals and offer better nutritional benefits.

## Contribution

The study shows that using weakly acidic hard water with the Kitanokaori wheat enhances resistant starch and calcium content, potentially improving postprandial glucose control.

## Key findings

- Noodles made with Kitanokaori wheat and weakly acidic hard water had 9.0-fold more resistant starch and 2.7-fold more calcium than control noodles.
- Mice fed Kitanokaori noodles showed significantly lower postprandial blood glucose levels compared to the control group.
- The noodles made with weakly acidic hard water had higher whiteness and brightness without significant textural differences.

## Abstract

Type 2 diabetes and osteoporosis are very serious diseases all over the world. We prepared noodles from ‘Kitanokaori’ (newly developed wheat) (KITs) using weakly acidic hard water, which showed a higher amount of resistant starch (9.0-fold) and calcium (2.7-fold) than noodles from Sanukinoyume (premium wheat) (SANs) using purified water. Furthermore, aged mice, which were fed a diet of KIT using weakly acidic hard water for eight weeks, showed lower postprandial blood glucose levels (BGLs) at 30 min after consumption than mice fed a control diet (SAN using purified water) (p < 0.05). Therefore, KIT seems promising in terms of health promotion through food. Additionally, the whiteness (WB) and brightness (L*) of wheat noodles using weakly acidic hard water showed higher values than ones using purified water. The texture of KIT using weakly acidic hard water showed few textural differences from noodles using purified water. The KIT using weakly acidic hard water would be acceptable in terms of palatability and bio-functionality in terms of delaying digestion.