Auricularia cornea var. Li., as an edible mushroom rich in various nutrients, could be widely used in noodle food. This study aimed to investigate the effect of Auricularia cornea var. Li. (AU) powder on the gel properties, structure and quality of starch noodles. Taking the sample without adding AU powder as a control, the addition of AU powder enhanced the peak viscosity, trough viscosity, final viscosity, breakdown, setback, peak time, gelatinization temperature, G' (storage modulus) and G'' (loss modulus). Meanwhile, the incorporation of AU powder significantly enhanced the stability of the starch gel structure and contributed to a more ordered microstructure also promoting the short-term aging of starch paste. In vitro digestion results displayed lower rapid digestibility (21.68%) but higher resistant starch content (26.58%) with the addition of AU powder and increased breaking rate, cooking loss, swelling index and a* and b* values. However, it decreased dry matter content and L*, particularly the reducing sugar content significantly increased to 4.01% (p < 0.05), and the total amino acid content rose to 349.91 mg/g. The GC-IMS library identified 51 VOCs, and the OPLS-DA model classified 18 VOCs (VIP > 1). Overall, the findings indicate that starch noodles with the addition of AU powder may provide greater nutritional quality, gel stability and starch antidigestibility.
Keywords: Auricularia cornea var. Li. (AU); gel properties; quality characteristics; starch noodles; starch paste; structure.