Rice flour noodles"Mt. Fuji hirara”in Fuji City, Shizuoka Prefecture have adopted cellulose nanofiber "cellenpia^(R)"

Nippon Paper Industries Co.,Ltd.

Nippon Paper Industries Co.,Ltd. (President & CEO: Toru Nozawa, Headquarters: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, hereinafter referred to as"Our Company”) has cooperated in the development of a renewed product of rice flour noodles made with rice from Fuji City,"Mt. Fuji hirara”, which is sold by the Women's Department of the Fuji City Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Shizuoka Prefecture. We are pleased to announce that our cellulose nanofiber (hereinafter referred to as"CNF”) "cellenpia^(R))" has been adopted for the renewal.

Rice flour is gluten-free, so it is difficult to stick together compared to wheat flour, and rice flour noodles before the renewal also had difficulties such as breaking the noodles when cooking. Therefore, by utilizing the knowledge of our Fuji Innovative Materials Research Laboratory, we added "cellenpia^{(R)" as} a thickener and examined the amount of the mixture and the combination of additives, which helped solve the problems for renewal.

◎New features of the renewed"Mt. Fuji hirara”due to the effect of CNF addition

・The improved shape retention has made it easier to cook hirara noodles after boiling, making it easier to apply them to other menus such as stewed noodles, grilled udon-style, and pasta, while noodles tightened in cold water were common until now.

・The chewiness of"Mochimochi”led to an improvement in the mouth and throat of"Slippery”.

・Since it has been given anti-drying and strength, it has led to the prevention of cracking and tearing of the noodles when frozen.

 

[Examples of CNFs for food additives]

CNF is a plant-derived material that loosens wood fibers down to the nano level, and when added to food, it has various functions such as suspension stability, emulsion stability, bubble stability, water retention, and shape retention, and can stabilize the quality of a wide range of products. It has been used in various foods such as bread and Japanese sweets, and has been recognized for its effect on maintaining moistness and extending the shelf life.

 

[Features of Mt. Fuji hirara]

It is a rice flour noodle made with rice from Fuji City and spring water from Mt. Fuji, and is shaped like a strip of paper that evokes the image of Fuji City, the city of paper. Fuji City is home to a variety of industries that are strongly related to the material development and application development of CNF, including the paper and pulp industry, and as efforts to commercialize CNF are being promoted, we consulted with Fuji City to solve problems using CNF, and this renewal using CNF was realized.

In addition to starting sales at dealers in Fuji City on June 10, it will be sold at Shizuoka Prefecture antenna shops and other stores at any time in the future.