Folates in Asian noodles: I. Microbiological analysis and the use of enzyme treatments.

Asian noodles are a major end use of common wheat flour globally. A microbiological assay protocol for the folate contents of flour and Asian noodles has been developed. Different approaches were compared for enzymatic extraction and deconjugation of folate following the establishment of optimum inoculum concentration for analysis. The folate results obtained varied when samples were subjected to different preparation and extraction procedures. The use of trienzyme treatments gave significantly higher content values. The pH and specific conditions of enzyme treatment also influenced the results. In applying well-established methods for folate analysis, it is essential to consider extraction procedures effective for the specific food products being analyzed. A suitable, validated method was developed and is recommended for use in further studies of fortification of wheat flour for Asian noodle processing.