CAN NOODLES BE MADE FROM MILLET? ANEXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATION OF NOODLE

MANUFACTURE TOGETHER WITH STARCHGRAIN ANALYSES

WEI GE,1 LI LIU,2 XINGCAN CHEN3 and ZHENGYAO JIN1†

1Archaeometry Laboratory, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230026, China2Archaeology Program, La Trobe University, Melbourne 3086, Australia

3Institute of Archaeology, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Beijing 100710, China

The earliest noodles have been dated to 4000 years ago, based on the discovery of remains atLajia in north western China. The Lajia noodles were described as having been made byrepeatedly stretching dough composed of millet flour with husks. In order to try to understandthis manufacturing technique we carried out simulation experiments in noodle-making anddocumented morphological changes in noodle starches caused by cooking. Our researchdemonstrates that it is impossible to stretch pure millet dough into noodles. We conclude thatthe husk phytoliths and starch-like granules said to be from the Lajia noodle remains mayactually not have been part of the noodles themselves.

KEYWORDS: NOODLES, ANCIENT STARCH, GELATINIZED STARCH, MILLET, LAJIA SITE,ARCHAEOLOGY, CHINA

INTRODUCTION

Noodles are one of the most popular staple foods in the world. Making noodles with wheat flourdates at latest to the Han dynasty (about 2000 years ago) in China, based on textual records (Fu2008). But the discovery of noodles from the Neolithic site of Lajia in north western Chinapushed the history of noodles back to 4000 bp. Based on starch and phytolith analyses, the Lajianoodles were reportedly made from the flour of foxtail millet (Setaria italica) and of broomcornmillet (Panicum miliaceum) by repeatedly stretching the dough (Lu et al. 2005). Such a methodof noodle-making is unknown in China today.

In order to test the proposition that the Lajia noodles were made from millet, we carried outnoodle-manufacturing experiments using different flours and analysed starch grains from theexperimental materials to document morphological alterations of starch granules during theprocedures of making noodle flour and dough and of cooking the noodles. In this paper wepresent the results of this experimental study and discuss problems with the identification ofmillet noodles from Lajia.

PROPERTIES OF NOODLES

Noodles made of various plant materials using different manufacturing methods have been staplefoods for many regions worldwide since ancient times. They can be made from wheat, rice andbuckwheat flour and from starches derived from potato, sweet potato and pulses (Fu 2008).

*Received 28 December 2009; accepted 26 February 2010†Corresponding author: email zyjin@ustc.edu.cn

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Food science research indicates that gluten-forming proteins play a critical role in determiningthe extensibility and elasticity of dough used for making noodles and breads. Gluten exists onlyin grains of wheat, barley and rye (Ciclitira et al. 2005). Flours of millets, including foxtail andbroomcorn millets, and of other small-seeded annual grasses are not suitable for making noodlesor breads because of the lack of gluten (Shewry et al. 2002). However, millet flour may be usedas a partial substitute in the formulations. Lorenz and Dilsaver (1980b) reported a maximumpossible replacement of 60% of the wheat by broomcorn millet in noodle-making. At a substi-tution level of 40% or higher, however, extrusion of noodles with a pasta press became difficultand the noodles became very gritty, because of the high ash content of millet flour (Lorenz andDilsaver 1980b). These studies show that the shortcomings of millets for making noodles are theresult of their biochemical composition.

SIMULATION EXPERIMENTS

Our experimental study included two parts: first, manufacturing and cooking noodles; andsecond, comparing the starches in uncooked grains and flours with those in cooked noodles.

Materials and methods

The materials used in the experiments include de-husked seeds of foxtail millet, broomcorn milletand wheat (Triticum aestivum), collected in China, as well as wheat flour, purchased from asupermarket in Australia. We ground the grains of de-husked foxtail millet and broomcorn milletseparately for 20 min each with mortar and pestle and sieved the flour with a 212 mm sieve toobtain fine flour. We then added water to make the flour into dough.

Results

The results showed that doughs made purely of millets are very gritty and brittle and that theybreak into pieces easily when being stretched and rolled. It is clear that neither foxtail millet norbroomcorn millet alone can be made into noodles by traditional methods. However, when halfmillet flour and half wheat flour were mixed together, we were able to make noodles, althoughthese were not as elastic as wheat-flour noodles (Fig. 1). These results are consistent with whathas been reported about millet noodles by Lorenz and Dilsaver (1980b). These noodles of mixedmillet–wheat flour were then cooked in boiling water for 5 min (counting from when the watercontaining the noodles began to boil).

STARCH ANALYSIS

Methods

Starch samples were taken from seeds prior to grinding, from flour after grinding and fromnoodles after cooking. We used a Zeiss Axioskop A1 microscope with attached Zeiss Axiocamdigital camera linked to a PC running AxioVision software. Images were captured under DIC(differential interference contrast) and polarized light, with particular attention paid to thedifferences between processed samples and unprocessed ones. The main variables recordedinclude changes in shape and size of granules, surface modifications, visibility of lamellae andchange in the extinction cross.

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Results

We compared starches from unprocessed seeds (Fig. 2) with those from the ground flour offoxtail millet, broomcorn millet and wheat. Since the process of grinding creates pressure on theseeds, the starch granules of cereal flour may show some morphological changes (Babot 2003).We noticed that starches from unprocessed millets tended to cluster into groups, while starchesfrom ground millet flour often appeared as disjoined single grains with the occurrence of somefissures radiating from the hilum (see arrows in Figs 3 (1a) and 3 (2a)). The starch granules fromcommercial wheat flour showed even more severe alterations on the surface. Incomplete andfractured granules were present (Fig. 3 (6a)), and striations in different directions appeared on thesurface of some granules (Fig. 3 (3a)). In other cases, the outline of the granule had becomeirregular, and the surface rough in texture (Fig. 3 (4a)). The lamellae became unusually distinc-tive in some areas on the granule (see arrow in Fig. 3 (5a)). Meanwhile, these damaged granulesalso showed alterations in extinction crosses, as the arms became wider and the centre became alarge dark circle (see arrows in Figs 3 (1b), 3 (2b), 3 (4b) and 3 (5b)). These alterations reflectdamage to the crystal structure. Our observation of these characteristics is consistent withresearch on maize starch granules after ball-mill treatment, which shows that granules lostflatness and smoothness and became rough on the surface, with a final disruption of starchcomponents (Tamaki et al. 1998).

Cooked noodles made from wheat and mixed flours were sampled and examined microscopi-cally. In the wheat noodles most of the visible material on the slide was a gel-like substance. Onlya few granules with swollen and distorted shapes were recognizable (Fig. 4 (1)). No extinctioncross could be seen under polarized light, suggesting that nearly all of the wheat granules in thenoodles were gelatinized after cooking. Similar results were observed from cooked noodles madefrom a mixture of wheat and two millets (Figs 4 (3) and 4 (6)). In some rare cases starchesmaintained the granule shape but lost the property of showing an extinction cross (Figs 4 (2),4 (4) and 4 (5)).

Figure 1 The simulation experiments to make noodles with different materials. (1–4) Stretching experiments on doughmade of different materials: (1) wheat; (2) foxtail millet; (3) broomcorn millet; (4) half foxtail millet and half broomcornmillet. (5–8) Rolling experiments with the dough of different grains: (5) wheat dough; (6) foxtail millet dough; (7) doughmade of half foxtail millet and half broomcorn millet; (8) dough of 50% wheat, 25% foxtail millet and 25% broomcornmillet.

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Based on the cooking experiments carried out on seeds and flours of wheat, broomcorn milletand other crops by Henry et al. (2008), when cooking periods were short and temperatures werelow, starch granules appeared relatively undamaged and some did not appear gelatinized orswollen under normal light. Their polarization cross, however, appeared darker or the dark armsbecame wider than those in the raw state. The disappearance of the extinction cross is often areliable indicator of cooking damage (Henry et al. 2008). In our experimental study, the presenceof a few starch granules without extinction crosses surviving after boiling is consistent with theobservations of Henry et al. (2008).

The high levels of starch gelatinization in our experiments may have two causes. First, thestarches of flours experienced severe milling before cooking, which already caused damage to thecrystal of starch granules prior to further destruction by cooking. Second, the method of cookingnoodles by boiling in water created relatively equal heating conditions for each granule, so thatthey all showed a similar degree of gelatinization. According to a study by Thomas and Atwell(1999), the crystal structure of starch granules is more easily damaged in an environment withexcessive water. Henry et al. (2008) also documented a shorter cooking period to reach the stateof gelatinization in ground flour than in whole grains. Our results conform to these observations.

Figure 2 Unprocessed starch granules: (1) wheat (T. aestivum); (2) foxtail millet (S. italica); (3) broomcorn millet (P.miliaceum). Viewed under DIC (left) and polarized light (right). Scale bar: 10 mm.

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To summarize, our simulation experiments demonstrate that: first, it is impossible to stretchmillet dough into noodles unless a significant proportion of wheat flour is added to the mix;second, grinding causes extensive damage to starch granules, as is observable in the morphologyand extinction cross; third, nearly all the starch granules in noodles are gelatinized after 5 min ofcooking; and fourth, small numbers of starch granules do survive boiling, but their shapes arealtered and extinction crosses disappear.

LAJIA NOODLES

In the light of the results from our experimental study, we can now discuss the composition ofLajia noodles. The Lajia site is located on a terrace of the upper Yellow River, in Minhe county,Qinghai province, China. The site is regarded as an ‘Eastern Pompeii’, owing to its well-preserved archaeological remains, which have revealed a catastrophic scene caused by earth-quake and flooding from the Yellow River (Ganqing Team and Qinghai Institute of CulturalRelics 2002; Dong et al. 2005). A preliminary analysis of flotation samples has recovered milletsand alfalfa (Zhao 2003), and it has been suggested that wheat may have also been a part of the

Figure 3 Starch granules after grinding: (1) foxtail millet; (2) broomcorn millet; (3–6) wheat. Viewed under DIC (left)and polarized light (right). (1–2) Radiating fissures and defects in the shape of the extinction cross are marked witharrows. Scale bars: (1–2) 10 mm; (3–6) 20 mm.

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diet, based on circumstantial evidence (Ye 2009). The noodle-like remains were found covered bya pottery bowl on a house foundation that was situated in a small plaza (Ye 2009), and the remainsinside the bowl were subjected to starch and phytolith analyses by Lu and colleagues (2005).Based on the presence of starch from millet grains and abundant phytoliths from millet husks, itwas concluded that the composition of the noodles included foxtail millet (Setaria italica) andbroomcorn millet (Panicum miliaceum) with husks, and that the noodles were made by repeat-edly stretching the dough into long, thin strands for boiling, a method resembling la-mian. Thisdiscovery has made newspaper headlines around the globe, to claim the fame of being the oldestnoodles in the world.

Several aspects of the Lajia report have caused confusion. First, there is the sampling method.Based on the image in the publications, we understand that the noodles were originally placed onthe bottom of the bowl and surrounded by a soil-like substance, but the bowl was turned upsidedown before it was buried. When first discovered, the noodle-shaped objects were only partiallydisintegrated. The remaining parts were yellow in colour, hollow inside and measured 3–4 mm incross-section. The photograph was taken immediately after the noodles were found, showingthem in a perfect state of preservation. When the entire substance under the bowl was broughtback to the laboratory, the ‘noodles’ had completely disintegrated. Six samples were taken fromthe entire substance and three of them from the layer associated with the ‘noodles’ (Ye 2006,2009). The Lajia noodle report stated that ‘we analyzed the phytoliths and starch grains presentin the sediment associated with the noodles’ (paragraph 4). Later the article refers to ‘the starchgrains found in the noodle sample’ (paragraph 6). It is unclear whether the samples were takenfrom the noodles themselves, from the sediment around the noodles or from both. If the starchgranules and abundant phytoliths of millets are from the sediments alone, or from both thenoodles and the sediments in the bowl, they cannot be considered to represent the composition of

Figure 4 Starch of cooked noodles made from different materials. (1) Wheat noodles. Scale bar: 20 mm. (2–3) Noodlesof half foxtail millet and half wheat. Scale bar: 20 mm. (4–6) Noodles of 50% wheat, 25% foxtail millet and 25%broomcorn millet. Scale bar: 10 mm.

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the noodles, because the sediments may have nothing to do with the noodles. If the samples werecollected from the noodles only, we would need to know how the authors controlled contami-nation of disintegrated noodles from surrounding sediments.

The second problem in the report is the incorrect description of gelatinized starch granules.Based on research in food science, heating starch granules in water breaks down the crystallinelayers, causing the starches to gelatinize (Biliaderis et al. 1980; McGee 1984), with a progressiveloss of the birefringence extinction cross under polarized light (Lineback and Wongsrikasem1978). This characteristic was demonstrated both in our simulation experiments, as discussedabove, and in other studies (Henry et al. 2008). However, the caption under Figure 1 in the Lajiareport states that ‘although the lamellae characteristics of noodle starch were mostly lost as aresult of gelatinization during cooking, their size and cross-shaped birefringence under polarizedlight are similar to those of starch from the millets’ (Lu et al. 2005, 967). Here we are faced withcontradictory information regarding starch morphology after gelatinization. The loss of lamellaewith continued presence of birefringence crosses, as described in the Lajia report, contradicts thefindings of other researchers (Lineback and Wongsrikasem 1978; Henry et al. 2008) and ourexperimental study.

The gelatinization temperature of starch varies in different plant species but is generallybetween 50 and 80°C (McNair 1930, 23–8). Temperatures for the initial and final stages ofgelatinization of foxtail millet are recorded as 55 and 62°C, respectively. A similar range ofgelatinization temperatures, from 56.1 to 61.2°C, has also been reported for broomcorn millet(McDonough et al. 2000). The Chinese traditional method for cooking noodles is to boil thewater in a vessel and then put the noodles in the boiling water for a few minutes. At sea level,water begins to boil at 100°C. The boiling point changes at different altitudes due to the effectsof air pressure. Lajia is situated on the Tibetan plateau. The boiling point of water from a well inthe Xining region (at an altitude of 2200 m) near Lajia is 93°C (Lei et al. 1997). Lajia is at about1800–1900 m, at which altitude the boiling-point of water would be similar to that in Xining. Thisis a temperature at which the starch granules of foxtail and broomcorn millets would be gelati-nized. The starch granules illustrated in Figure 1 in the Lajia report show distinct birefringenceextinction crosses, a finding that is contradictory to the previous research and to our experimentalstudy on gelatinized starch.

Lamellae are layers of starch granules that form around the hilum. Not all starch granules showvisible lamellae. The presence or absence of lamellae is one of the important morphologicalfeatures for the identification of starches (Field 2008). We examined about 20 varieties ofdomesticated foxtail millet and broomcorn millet collected from different regions in China, butnone of them showed any visible lamellae on the starches. Modern millet starches examined bythe authors of the Lajia report in a separate publication also showed no lamellae (Yang et al.2009). Henry et al. (2008) have conducted experimental studies on 10 domesticated Old Worldplant species to investigate the morphological modification of their starch granules after variousmethods of cooking. They have found that the lamellae on starch granules became more visibleafter a short period of cooking. The results of these three studies contradict the Lajia noodleinterpretation.

The third problem concerns some controversial points in the two main conclusions of the Lajiareport. First, the idea that millets are the components of the Lajia noodles is based on theidentification of abundant husk phytoliths and starch granules of millets found in related sedi-ments. Second, the possible contribution of wheat or barley was excluded for lack of evidence.

Both foxtail millet and broomcorn millet have husks, which are hard to swallow and are notnormally part of food for human consumption, because the husks contain a very high percentage

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of silica (Lorenz and Dilsaver 1980a). De-husking is a necessary practice when processing millet,regardless of whether it is eaten in flour or as grains. If the abundant phytoliths (as many as9.81 ¥ 104 and 4.36 ¥ 104 grains per gram) are really from the noodles, this means that the ancientLajia people ground the seeds to make flour without de-husking. This seems unlikely. Ourexperimental study shows that millet flour dough after de-husking is already too gritty to formnoodles. It would be even more difficult to make noodles with millet flour before de-husking.

Lack of evidence is not a sufficient reason for excluding wheat and barley as possiblecomponents of the Lajia noodles. The Lajia site is located in the upper Yellow River region, andthe remains of wheat and barley have been found along the Yellow River basin during theLongshan period (2500–2000 bc) (Jin 2007), which predates the settlement at Lajia (2000 cal.bc). The earliest carbonized barley (4600 cal bp) and wheat (4650 cal bp) in China have beenfound at Xishanping, which is about 300 km south-east of Lajia (Li et al. 2007). These phenom-ena indicate that the cultivation of wheat and barley has had a relatively long history in thisregion. It is difficult to imagine that the Lajia people would have chosen millet as the material tomake noodles rather than wheat, which is more suitable. One possible explanation is that theLajia noodles may have been made of wheat but that, owing to gelatinization during cooking, allthe starch granules lost their crystal structure, as well as their extinction cross, which underpolarized light thus became invisible to the investigators.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS

According to our simulation experiments of noodle manufacture, starch granules after grindingshow obvious alterations not only in surface morphology but also in the properties of theextinction cross. In the latter case, the most notable change is the widening of the dark areas asa result of damage to the crystal structure. After boiling for 5 min, nearly all of the starch granulesin noodles are gelatinized and have lost extinction crosses. Surviving starch granules in cookednoodles show distorted shapes without extinction crosses. These morphological alterations areabsent in the starch-like granules reported for the Lajia noodles. In the image of Lajia ‘starch’ (Luet al. 2005, Fig. 1d) all the granules show distinct crosses under polarized light, which indicatescomplete crystal structure in these granules.

Our experiments on making noodles also indicated that the flour of de-husked millets cannotbe made into noodles by traditional methods, let alone millets with husks, which would be evenmore difficult to form into noodles. Starch from many kinds of flour can be made into noodles byspecial techniques, using a pressing machine (Wang 2006; Ye 2009), and millet flour is said to beused for making noodles by such machines in north-western regions of China, and referred to ashele (Houyuan Lu pers. comm. 2009). Nevertheless, only de-husked flours are used in thesecases. There is no evidence to suggest that millets with husks can be made into noodles with suchtechnology in either historic or prehistoric times.

It is also doubtful that the phytoliths of millet husks found in the noodle bowl actually belongto the noodles. The noodles appear to be associated with soil-like sediments in the bowl.Phytoliths in soil may be transported by moving water (Fishkis et al. 2009), which may have beenthe case at Lajia since the site was destroyed by a flood. Therefore, we cannot exclude thepossibility that the phytoliths recovered from the bowl are unrelated to the noodles.

Furthermore, it is questionable whether the granules shown in the Lajia report are derived fromstarches at all. First, the cross arms are very thin at the intersections and gradually widen as theyextend to the end. This form is different from that characteristic of millet starch granules, inwhich the extinction crosses show similar widths in the centre and in the arms, and only become

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widened at the edge of the cross in some cases. Second, the features of these granules, particularlythe extinction crosses, are similar to some mineral grains that we have often encounteredwhen examining ancient samples. For example, there are many such grains in the samples wecollected from Shizitan in Jixian county, Shanxi province (Fig. 5). They show cross-like bire-fringence under polarized light, and the maximum lengths of the granules are similar to those ofmillet starches. These grains may easily be mistaken for starches. But when observed under aDIC view, they look very flat on the surface, unlike the three-dimensional characteristics of starchgranules. In addition to mineral grains, fungal spores and gypsum spherulites may also bemisidentified as starches. Both are common in soils and show extinction crosses underpolarized light (Haslam 2006; Loy 2006). In any case, the Lajia noodle ‘starches’ need to bere-examined.

In conclusion, our research shows that, first, as determined by the property of millets, it is verydifficult, if not impossible, to make pure millet noodles and it is even more unlikely to makenoodles from millet with husks. Second, it is unclear from the original report whether the residuesfrom the Lajia noodle remains were actually derived from the noodles themselves. Third, starchmorphology after cooking shows distinctive alterations, particularly the loss of the extinctioncross, a phenomenon that does not fit with the original interpretation of the granules said to befrom the Lajia noodles. Fourth, it is uncertain that the starch-like grains said to be from the Lajia

Figure 5 Mineral granules recovered from a grinding stone from Shizitan in Shanxi, China.

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noodles are indeed starch, because they show some non-starch characteristics. In order to reacha better understanding of the earliest noodles in the world, re-examination of the Lajia noodleremains is needed.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

We thank Sheahan Bestel for assistance in sample processing and Richard Meadow for hisconstructive suggestions and English editing. We are also grateful to the comments from twoanonymous reviewers. This research was supported by the China Scholarship Council (No.2008634002, awarded to Wei Ge) and the Australian Research Council Discovery Grant(DP0450025, to Li Liu).

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