While Umaporn Buranasuksombat was doing her PhD in food nutrition at university, she realised that patients need to consume a lot of protein, especially from egg whites, to build and repair body tissue. However, these patients did not enjoy the taste of egg white and could not consume enough protein to recover and rejuvenate. Due to her background in food science and technology from the University of Queensland, Australia, Umaporn came up with the idea to introduce a new type of food that can help patients.
"In the field of food nutrition, nutritionists are trained to arrange meal plans from natural foods. For instance, a physician may prescribe a patient with liver disease to consume 10 egg whites per day. A nutritionist may also prepare steamed eggs or boiled eggs without egg yolks to serve the patient. As a food scientist, I wanted to serve healthy food to patients, so I created flourless noodles from egg whites," said Umaporn.
The flourless egg-white noodle recipe did not happen overnight. Umaporn experimented with several kinds of protein such as green peas, brown rice and whey before noting that egg white is the best ingredient. Later, the food scientist created 40 recipes and let people sample them before she discovered the right recipe.
Umaporn experimented with several kinds of protein before she discovered flourless egg-white noodles. Photo courtesy of Umaporn Buranasuksombat
"Egg white provides the best texture because people feel that the egg-white noodles are similar to regular noodles and khanom jeen or rice noodles. Each recipe was tested in three aspects -- its physical property, a sensory evaluation and nutritional property. During the sensory evaluation, tasters evaluated colour, texture and odour. However, the nutritional property was the most important aspect because we were making noodles for patients. Thus, these noodles must have high nutritional value. Also, the noodles must be delicious, so patients eat them regularly," she said.
According to Umaporn, before she created her noodles, she searched on Scopus, which covers health science data, and Google Scholar and found that flourless egg-white noodles had never been made before. After creating her noodles, one of her lecturers showed interest and wanted to manufacture them.
"I run my own business selling healthcare products, so I introduced my lecturer to some business connections. Due to the Covid-19 situation, the university was closed and I did not go for a while. After I returned, I discovered that the lecturer and her connections had already registered a company to produce the egg-white noodles, but I was not included," said Umaporn.
Umaporn felt depressed and eventually discontinued her PhD study. With support from her family members and friends, Umaporn bounced back and teamed up with her partners -- Panassa Kanchanavises and Worawee Chaopichaya -- to launch products under the brand Nimnim Noodle. To make their egg-white noodles unique, the food scientist expanded offerings to include three different varieties -- egg-white noodles, vermicelli egg-white noodles and spaghetti (mixed with egg yolk).
From left, spaghetti mixed with egg yolk, egg-white noodles and vermicelli egg-white noodles. Photos © Healthy Took Wan
"Our target groups, patients and elderly, responded to our products. We also found people on a ketogenic diet liked our noodles because they do not want to consume carbs and our noodles do not contain flour and sugar. Another group that we did not expect is mothers and children. Some children do not like protein. For example, when eating spaghetti and meatballs, children often choose to eat only the spaghetti and do not consume the protein. Since our spaghetti already contains protein from egg white, parents do not have to worry whether their children eat meatballs or not," said Umaporn.
After introducing the three types of noodles, Umaporn set out to improve the weakness in the product. She was able to extend the initial one-month expiry date to one year without adding any preservatives. After that, their products were registered at the Department of Intellectual Property, Ministry of Commerce.
Nimnim's noodles. Healthy Took Wan
"In December 2019, our sales volume for noodles with one-month expiration was 2,000 bags. After extending expiry to one year, sales rose to 20,000 bags. International customers began to contact us to import Nimnim to other countries such as Singapore, Hong Kong, Macau and Malaysia. Our products are also available in the USA, Switzerland and Australia," said Umaporn.
When Umaporn first started her company, she often questioned her ability since she had a trust issue. However, the more she dedicated herself, the happier she became, especially after she received positive feedback.
"Customers thanked me for creating egg-white noodles. They said their mothers or fathers recovered from illnesses because they were able to consume enough protein. A physician told me that our product is excellent because it helps patients who do not feel like eating have a better diet. A customer in Singapore called our product 'to die for noodles' and Japanese customers were surprised that our product is similar to udon. This feedback made us proud and happy that people liked our products," said Umaporn.
"We attended seminars and participated in competitions to build up our brand and earn the trust of our customers. In September, Nimnim Noodle won the first runner-up prize up from the National Innovation Awards in the Product and Service Design category," she added.
Nimnim's spaghetti. Worawee
The next goal of Nimnim Noodle is to expand its product line by launching three ready-to-eat soups -- gaeng kiew wan (green curry), tom yum (spicy) and namya (sauce for khanom jeen or rice noodle).
"Our customers often send us photos of them eating our noodles with these soups -- gaeng kiew wan, tom yum and namya. We think if we can launch ready-to-eat soups alongside our noodles, it will be more convenient for our customers. Since our primary target group is patients, we will introduce soups that have low sodium and potassium along with vegetables. The soups must go through the registration process with the Food and Drug Administration. We believe they will be marketed at the end of the year," said Umaporn.
Umaporn is satisfied with the success of Nimnim Noodle which is a helpful product for patients, the elderly and others.
"Because Nimnim can serve the food needs of patients, it gives me a sense of self-worth. It is a joy to know that patients enjoy these noodles which helps them recover. If I did not study food science, I would not have the opportunity to develop food for the benefit of patients like this," said Umaporn.
Umaporn Buranasuksombat, food scientist and nutritionist at Nimnim Noodle. Photo courtesy of Umaporn Buranasuksombat
