Shiitake powder in wheat noodles, digestion and antioxidant effects in lab tests
What it found
Adding shiitake powder to wheat noodles lowered the sugars released during lab digestion and protected gut cells from oxidative damage.
These results came from test-tube digestion and cell studies, not from people eating the noodles.
What they found
Animal and lab studies
Less sugar released in digestion
Noodles with 15% shiitake stem powder released 45% fewer reducing sugars during lab digestion than plain wheat noodles. Noodles with 15% whole shiitake powder also released significantly less sugar than the control.
Antioxidants released during digestion
After lab digestion, the liquid from noodles with 15% shiitake showed three times more antioxidant activity than plain noodles before digestion. This suggests digestion frees antioxidants that were bound inside the food.
Protection of gut cells
When rat intestinal cells were stressed with hydrogen peroxide, the digested shiitake noodle liquid lowered the amount of damaging reactive oxygen species inside the cells. The 15% stem digesta showed the strongest effect at ten times the normal dose.
Other findings
More fibre and protein
Adding shiitake powder raised the protein and total fibre in the noodles compared to plain wheat noodles. The stem powder gave the highest insoluble fibre at 13.42 g per 100 g dry weight at the 15% level.
What the authors conclude
- They conclude that adding shiitake to noodles increased protein, lowered the expected blood sugar response and raised antioxidant capacity in lab tests.
- They suggest shiitake stems could be used as a functional food ingredient to help prevent chronic diseases.
- Their findings show that digestion releases antioxidant compounds from the noodles that can act on intestinal cells.
How it was done
Diets that raise blood sugar quickly are linked to obesity and type 2 diabetes. Shiitake mushrooms contain fibre and other active compounds, so the authors wanted to see if adding them to noodles could improve their nutritional profile.
The authors made wheat noodles replacing flour with 5%, 10% or 15% shiitake cap, stem or whole mushroom powder. They tested how the noodles cooked, measured nutrients, ran a simulated stomach and gut digestion, and applied the digested liquid to rat intestinal cells for 24 hours.
What it can’t tell you
- These are lab digestion and cell studies, so they cannot show what happens when people eat shiitake noodles.
- A simulated gut does not fully copy human digestion or absorption.
- Cell results in a dish do not prove the same effects occur in a living body.
Who paid
- Conflicts
- Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
- Authors work at
- Lincoln University, New Zealand; Riddet Institute, New Zealand; Tianjin University of Commerce, China
The paper
- Title
- In vitro gastric digestion antioxidant and cellular radical scavenging activities of wheat-shiitake noodles
- Type
- Study
- Evidence
- Animals and lab studies
- Summarised from
- Full text
- Cite
- Wang L, Zhao H, Brennan M, et al (2020). In vitro gastric digestion antioxidant and cellular radical scavenging activities of wheat-shiitake noodles. Food chemistry. doi:10.1016/j.foodchem.2020.127214Free full textPubMed 32521398DOI
Summary written 1 Oct 2026. Check it against the paper before it changes what you eat. How we summarise papers · Report an error