Extensional Flow Studies of Wheat Flour Dough. I. Experimental Method for Measurements in Contraction Flow Geometry and Application to Flours Varying in Breadmaking Performance

An experimental method is reported for extensional measurements on wheat flour doughs in contraction flow geometry. In this method the transient stress under constant extension rate was measured, followed by stress relaxation measurement after cessation of flow. Four different wheat cultivars (with large differences in bread volume) were used to evaluate the usefulness of the method and to find how different parameters relevant to baking quality could be extracted from the data. The plot of transient viscosity against time showed the effect known as strain hardening, appearing at a Hencky strain roughly independent of the strain rate but differing between the wheat varieties. The relaxation rate curves for the four wheat varieties were similar except at the highest strain rate, 7·40 s⁻¹. It was decided in the following case study to use the highest strain rate, 7·40 s⁻¹and to extract three parameters from the stress growth plot and three parameters from the stress relaxation rate plot. In the case study, flours of 17 wheat varieties were mixed in the Mixograph to maximum resistance before being subjected to the contraction flow measurement. The six parameters extracted from each wheat flour dough measurement, together with the corresponding protein content, Zeleny value, and bread volume, were evaluated by multivariate analysis. A model for predicting the bread volume from the contraction flow parameters explained 94·6% of the variation in bread volume, while a model with Zeleny values and protein contents included explained 97·2%.     

Rheological properties and baking quality of wheat varieties from various geographical regions

Eight wheat varieties, originating from various geographical regions were examined for their rheological properties during large uniaxial and biaxial extensions and for their baking quality. Extensibility during uniaxial extension as well as biaxial extensional viscosity proved to be significant properties in predicting loaf volume. Multiple regression analysis indicated uniaxial extensibility and biaxial extensional viscosity as best predictors for loaf volume. The varieties with the highest strain hardening index were those of high loaf volume and also fine and soft crumb, whereas varieties of low strain hardening index were of poor baking quality. However, baking behaviour was not completely explained by considering only the strain hardening index. Crumb fineness was also investigated and it was taken into consideration when evaluating the varieties for their baking quality. 3D scatter plots of loaf volume, cell volume, and number of cells in the slice, divided the wheat samples in groups depending on their baking quality and common rheological characteristics were observed for these groups. The samples were also examined for their proofing capacity. Maximum dough height from the rheofermentometer correlated with loaf volume and was affected by rheological properties of the samples.     

Strain Hardening Properties and Extensibility of Flour and Gluten Doughs in Relation to Breadmaking Performance

The mechanical properties of flour–water doughs and hydrated gluten of different wheat cultivars were determined. Measurements were performed at small deformations (dynamic measurements) as well as at large deformations (biaxial extension measurements). Results of dynamic measurements of flour doughs related poorly to breadmaking quality. For hydrated gluten doughs, all having the same water content, it was found that glutens from wheat cultivars with good baking quality had higher values for the storage modulus,G, and lower values for the loss tangent. The relevant type of deformation around an expanding gas bubble is biaxial extension. Wheats with a good baking performance exhibited greater strain hardening and greater extensibility. The differences in strain hardening observed at 20 °C were also present at 55 °C. No clear effects of NaCl or emulsifiers on the biaxial extension properties of flour dough were found. Extensograms as well as Alveograms from the flour doughs showed that, in general, good baking flours exhibited stronger resistance to extension and a greater extensibility, but differences found were not directly related to the results of the baking tests. The results indicate that the baking performance of dough is related to a combination of at least three different rheological characteristics.     

Rheological Behaviour of Wheat Glutens at Small and Large Deformations. Comparison of Two Glutens Differing in Bread Making Potential

The rheological characteristics of hydrated cv. Obelisk and Katepwa glutens, with poor and good baking potential, respectively, were studied at small and large deformations. Dynamic (oscillatory) measurements at small deformations over a frequency range of 0·03 to 3 rad/s showed that cv. Katepwa gluten had a higher dynamic modulus and a lower loss tangent than cv. Obelisk gluten. Overmixing resulted in increases in the dynamic moduli of both glutens. Measurements at different water contents indicated that the lower dynamic moduli at higher water contents resulted mainly from a concentration effect and were not due to water acting as a plasticiser. The apparent biaxial extensional viscosities of the glutens were determined by uniaxial compression of cylindrically shaped test pieces at various cross-head speeds. This proved to be a very useful method of providing information about the rheological behaviour of glutens at large deformations as a function of different strain rates. At every biaxial strain rate tested, the apparent biaxial extensional viscosity of cv. Katepwa gluten was higher than that of cv. Obelisk gluten. A thin layer of biaxially extended gluten showed a higher resistance to further biaxial extension than a less biaxially extended, thicker layer. Cv. Katepwa gluten exhibited this strain hardening behaviour to a greater extent than cv. Obelisk gluten. Possible consequences for baking performance are discussed.     

Comparison of predictions of baking volume using large deformation rheological properties

Three large deformation rheological tests, the Kieffer dough extensibility system, the D/R dough inflation system and the 2 g mixograph test, were carried out on doughs made from a large number of winter wheat lines and cultivars grown in Poland. These lines and cultivars represented a broad spread in baking performance in order to assess their suitability as predictors of baking volume. The parameters most closely associated with baking volume were strain hardening index, bubble failure strain, and mixograph bandwidth at 10 min. Simple correlations with baking volume indicate that bubble failure strain and strain hardening index give the highest correlations, whilst the use of best subsets regression, which selects the best combination of parameters, gave increased correlations with R²=0.865 for dough inflation parameters, R²=0.842 for Kieffer parameters and R²=0.760 for mixograph parameters.     

Rheological properties of kafirin and zein prolamins

The possibility of forming dough from kafirin was investigated and laboratory prepared kafirin was formed into a viscoelastic dough system. Measurements with Contraction Flow showed that dough systems prepared from kafirin and from commercial zein had the required extensional rheological properties for baking of leavened bread. The extensional viscosity and strain hardening of the kafirin and zein dough systems were similar to those of gluten and wheat flour doughs. The kafirin dough system, however, unlike the zein dough system rapidly became very stiff. The stiffening behaviour of the kafirin dough system was presumed to be caused by cross-linking of kafirin monomers. SDS-PAGE showed that the kafirin essentially only contained α- and γ-kafirin, whereas the zein essentially only contained α-zein. Since γ-kafirin contains more cysteine residues than the α-prolamin it is more likely to form disulphide cross-links, which probably caused the differences in stiffening behaviour between kafirin and zein dough systems. Overall the kafirin dough system displayed rheological properties sufficient for baking of porous bread. Kafirin like zein appears to have promising properties for making non-gluten leavened doughs.     

Influence of gliadin removal on strain hardening of hydrated wheat gluten during equibiaxial extensional deformation

The aim of the present work has been to study the equibiaxial extensional deformation of doughs of gluten- and glutenin-rich fractions containing 40 wt% water subjected to lubricated squeezing flow with four different crosshead speeds at room temperature. The gluten dough shows strain softening and hardening in succession whilst the dough where the gliadins have been removed by alcohol extraction does not show strain hardening behavior but breaks immediately after strain softening. The equibiaxial extensional viscosity decreases with increasing strain rate at given strains, appearing as strain rate thinning behavior, which is stronger in the glutenin dough than in the gluten dough. The large extensibility with strain hardening in the gluten dough is due to the presence of gliadins acting as both plasticizers and promoters for the more extensible networks.     

On the relationship between large-deformation properties of wheat flour dough and baking quality

Baking performance for bread and puff pastry was tested for Six European and two Canadian wheat cultivars and related to the rheological and fracture properties in uniaxial extension of optimally mixed flour–water doughs and doughs to which a mix of bakery additives was added. Extensive baking tests were performed as a function of water addition for puff pastry and as a function of water addition and mixing time for bread. For optimum baking performance, puff pastry doughs required lower water additions than bread doughs. Baking performance of the flours differed for the two products. For puff pastry, higher volumes were obtained per gram of flour than for bread. Puff pastry volume was positively correlated with optimum bread dough mixing time, while bread volume was not. Instead, bread volume was positively correlated with gluten protein content.All doughs exhibited strain hardening, a more than proportional increase of the stress with the strain. For all doughs fracture, stress and strain increased with increasing displacement speed of the hook and decreasing temperature. Large differences were observed between the cultivars regarding stress, strain hardening, strain rate-dependency of the stress, fracture stress and fracture strain. At both 25 and 45 °C, addition of a mix of bakery additives resulted in a decrease of the stress at relatively small strains and a significant increase of the strain hardening coefficient. Fracture strains remained the same or increased as a result of addition of the mix. Differences between flours regarding the strain rate and temperature-dependency of the fracture strain remained. The weaker the dough, the stronger the strain rate and temperature-dependency of the fracture strain.Puff pastry volume was positively correlated with strain hardening and negatively with the strain rate-dependency of the stress. In short, the stronger the dough, the higher the puff pastry volume. For bread, it were not the strongest doughs that gave the highest loaf volumes, but those with intermediate dough strength. Low volumes for puff pastry and bread were found for doughs having a low fracture stress and low strain hardening coefficients. Loaf volumes of flours with high dough strength (i.e. high stress-level and high strain hardening) gave intermediate loaf volumes. We concluded that a high stress can hamper the extensibility of dough films between gas cells, thus limiting the expansion of gas cells during fermentation and baking and hence the loaf volume that can be obtained.     

Mechanism of gas cell stabilization in bread making. I. The primary gluten–starch matrix

Expansion of dough and hence bread making performance is postulated to depend on a dual mechanism for stabilization of inflating gas bubbles. Two flours were used in this study, one from the wheat variety Jagger (Jagger) and the other from a composite of soft wheat varieties (Soft). Thin liquid lamellae (films), stabilized by adsorbed surface active compounds, act as an auxiliary to the primary gluten–starch matrix in stabilizing expanding gas cells and this mechanism operates when discontinuities begin to appear in the gluten–starch matrix during later proving and early baking stages. Contributions of the liquid lamellae stability to dough expansion were assessed using flours varying in their lipid content. Incremental addition of natural lipids back into defatted flour caused bread volume to decrease, and, after reaching a minimum, to increase. Strain hardening is a key rheological property responsible for stabilizing the primary gluten–starch matrix. Jagger gave higher test-bake loaf volume than Soft and higher strain hardening index for dough. The different lipid treatments were found to have negligible effects on strain hardening index. Image analysis of crumb grain revealed that differences in number of gas cells and average cell elongation with different lipid treatments were insignificant. The evidence agrees with a dual mechanism to stabilize the gas cells in bread dough. To understand dough rheology at a molecular level, rheological properties of doughs were varied by addition of flour protein fractions prepared by pH fractionation. Fractions were characterized by SE-HPLC and MALLS. The molecular weight distribution (MWD) of fractions progressively shifted to higher values as the pH of fractionation decreased. Mixograph dough development time paralleled the MWD. However, the strain hardening index and the test-bake loaf volume increased with increasing MWD up to a point (optimum), after which they declined. At a given strain rate, the behavior at the optimum is thought to result from slippage of the maximum number of statistical segments between entanglements, without disrupting the entangled network of polymeric proteins. Shift of MWD to molecular weight higher than the optimum results in a stronger network with reduced slippage through entanglement nodes, whereas a shift to lower molecular weights will decrease the strength of the network due to a lesser number of entanglements per chain.     

Oat malt as a baking ingredient – A comparative study of the impact of oat,barley and wheat malts on bread and dough properties

Oat malt is a nutritionally rich ingredient mainly used in a small number of speciality products. The aim of this study was to evaluate the suitability of oat malt in wheat baking. The effect of oat malt on bread and dough properties at levels ranging from 0.5% to 5% was studied and compared with barley and wheat malts. The addition of all malts increased loaf specific volumes. Barley and wheat malts at levels above 2.5% led to a sticky and coarse crumb, but the effect of oat malt on the crumb grain was negligible. Rheological characterisation could not explain the superior baking performance of oat malt, as it increased extensibility and decreased resistance extensively indicating weakening of the extensional properties of the gluten network. The high lipolytic activity may have compensated for the loss of dough strength by improving the surface properties of gas cells. The results show that oat malt can be used in wheat baking to improve the loaf volume and nutritional quality without the detrimental effects associated with the excess amylolytic activity of barley and wheat malts.     

Oat malt as a baking ingredient – A comparative study of the impact of oat,barley and wheat malts on bread and dough properties

Oat malt is a nutritionally rich ingredient mainly used in a small number of speciality products. The aim of this study was to evaluate the suitability of oat malt in wheat baking. The effect of oat malt on bread and dough properties at levels ranging from 0.5% to 5% was studied and compared with barley and wheat malts. The addition of all malts increased loaf specific volumes. Barley and wheat malts at levels above 2.5% led to a sticky and coarse crumb, but the effect of oat malt on the crumb grain was negligible. Rheological characterisation could not explain the superior baking performance of oat malt, as it increased extensibility and decreased resistance extensively indicating weakening of the extensional properties of the gluten network. The high lipolytic activity may have compensated for the loss of dough strength by improving the surface properties of gas cells. The results show that oat malt can be used in wheat baking to improve the loaf volume and nutritional quality without the detrimental effects associated with the excess amylolytic activity of barley and wheat malts.     

Predicting wheat quality – consequences of the ascorbic acid improver effect

Genotype and environment sets of wheat cultivars and breeding lines were tested for bread making, dough mixing, dough rheology, protein composition and thiol/disulphide composition to find methods that could identify wheat with high baking quality (high-BQ) and moderate work input (moderate-WI) requirement using the mechanical dough development system. Wheat with these properties generally had a high baking response to ascorbic acid (AA) and a GluD1a (HMW-GS 2 + 12) allelic composition. Strong wheat with high WI and high-BQ generally had low baking response to AA and a GluD1d (HMW-GS 5 + 10) allelic composition. Using protein composition data to identify wheat of high-BQ (with AA) and moderate-WI, it was best to select wheat with as high as possible percent of SDS-unextractable polymeric protein (%UPP) in flour and as low as possible %UPP in total polymeric protein. Using a dough extension test for identifying wheat of high-BQ (with AA) and moderate-WI, it was best to select wheat with intermediate values for maximum resistance to extension (Rmax) and for values of extension at Rmax as high as possible within the intermediate Rmax range. Cysteine content of protein fractions and glutathione content of flour gave mostly poor to weak correlations with all baking and mixing properties.     

Influence of baking and in vitro digestion on steryl ferulates from wheat

So far, data on absorption and metabolism of steryl ferulates from edible sources is scarce. Therefore, the impact of enzyme-aided baking and in vitro digestion was examined in this study. Wheat flours and wheat breads were subjected to a static in vitro digestion model and changes in the contents of steryl ferulates and free sterols (possible hydrolysis products of steryl ferulates) were monitored. Baking degraded steryl ferulates at a similar rate in all types of breads (43–47%) compared to the corresponding flours, while baking induced changes in free sterols showed no clear pattern. In vitro digestion provoked five folds lower content of steryl ferulates in flours than in breads and it also resulted in significant free sterol accumulation. Interestingly, bioaccessibility (0.01–0.25%) was not influenced by the cereal matrix. The four steryl ferulate species, which were detected in wheat, showed similar hydrolysis rates during digestion. As baking had a significant impact on the steryl ferulate content of wheat, we suggest that both raw and processed sources should be considered further in vitro, animal or human trials, when studying the metabolic fate of steryl ferulates.     

Wheat-flour dough extensibility as a discriminator for wheat varieties

The extension testing of wheat-flour dough has become one of the key cereal chemistry links to end product quality assessment, because of its perceived relevance to baking performance, and because of the various correlations that have been inferred and assumed since the extensibility of a dough was first investigated in the late 19th century. As a consequence, from a plant breeding perspective, there is a need to understand and interpret the extensibility of a dough in terms of the molecular dynamics occurring during its extension, not only as it relates to its baking, but also to the HMW/LMW glutenin and gliadin composition of the wheat. The focus of this paper is the direct measurement of extensibility on a micro-extension tester. The theoretical justification is that the resulting extensogram represents an encapsulation of the extensional rheology of the dough. The paper reports on a graphical and statistical analysis of extension tests performed on eight representative flours. They yield validation for the conclusion that the historic assessment of extensibility as Ext_Rupture should be replaced by Ext_Rmax and the difference Ext_Rupture−Ext_Rmax. It is relatively easy to obtain accurate estimates of R_max, Ext_Rmax and Ext_Rupture from electronically recorded extensograms. Among other things, it is established that, in terms of the glutenin classification of flours based on electrophoresis, HPLC or DNA markers, R_max yields a far better differentiation than is achieved with either Ext_Rupture or Ext_Rmax. It follows, as a corollary to such results, that the extensions to the earlier rheological phases in an extensogram are just as, if not more, important in identifying connections between the gluten composition of wheat varieties and the traditional Ext_Rupture and R_max. In particular, it is shown that, like R_max, the scaled difference R_max/(Ext_Rupture−Ext_Rmax) represents an alternative strategy to relate quality to the glutenin composition of wheat varieties, determined by electrophoresis, HPLC and DNA markers.     

Microstructure formation and rheological behaviour of dough under simple shear flow

In a z-blade mixer, both shear and extensional deformations contribute to the development of dough structure. I effect of simple shearing versus z-blade mixing at similar levels of work input, on the microstructure and uniaxial extensional properties of two doughs prepared from flours of different strengths. With respect to microstructure, mixing initially increased the formation of coarse protein patches, leading to a heterogeneous dough structure with a high fracture stress (σ_max) and significant strain hardening. These parameters decreased with prolonged mixing. This was accompanied by loss of glutenin macro polymer (GMP) wet weight and formation of a more homogenous microstructure. Prolonged mixing typically led to an over-mixed state. In contrast, prolonged simple shearing did not affect GMP content or strain hardening and gave enhanced shear banding. Confocal scanning laser microscopy revealed that short-term simple shearing induced structure formation in the direction of the shear flow for both flour types, followed by formation of shear-banded gluten structures both parallel and perpendicular to the direction of shear flow. Uniaxial extension of dough oriented parallel or perpendicular to the shear field did not reveal anisotropy. Apparently, the observed heterogeneity on a scale of ‘mm’ was not relevant for this type of rheology. Nevertheless, a relative weakening of dough strength (reduced fracture stress) was observed as a function of long-term shearing. This seems to be related to a local segregation effect caused by differences in visco-elasticity between the gluten phase and the starch granules. The results of this study reveal important features of the dough processing and underline the importance of not only work input, but also the type of deformation applied.     

Molecular characterization of Glu-B3 locus in wheat cultivars and segregating populations

Bread wheat quality constitutes a key trait for the demands of the baking industry as well as the broad consumer preferences. The role of the low molecular weight glutenin subunits (LMW-GS) with regard to bread quality is so far not well understood owing to their genetic complexity and to the use of different nomenclatures and standards for the LMW-GS assignment by different research groups, which has made difficult the undertaking of association studies between genotypes and bread quality. The development of molecular markers to carry out genetic characterization and allele determination is demanding. Nowadays, the most promising LMW gene marker system is based on PCR and high resolution capillary electrophoresis for the simultaneous analysis of the complete multigene family. The molecular analysis of the bread wheat Glu-B3 locus in F₂ and F_4:6 populations expressed the expected one-locus Mendelian segregation pattern, thus validating the suitability of this marker system for the characterization of LMW-GS genes in segregating populations, allowing for the successful undertaking of studies related to bread-making quality. Moreover, the Glu-B3 allele characterization of standard cultivars with the molecular marker system has revealed its potential as a complementary tool for the allelic determination of this complex multigene family.     

Effect of structured lipid on alveograph characteristics, baking and textural qualities of soft wheat flour

The effect of substituting canola oil/caprylic acid structured lipid (SL) for partially hydrogenated shortening (at 0, 25, 50, 75, and 100% levels) on the rheology of soft wheat flour dough (28.4% total lipid on flour weight basis, 43% moisture) was determined using the Alveograph. The effect of SL substitution on baking and textural qualities of sugar-snap cookies was also investigated. Addition of shortening to soft wheat flour dough resulted in a significant (P<0.05) decrease in dough resistance to deformation (P), dough extensibility (L), and dough baking strength (W), suggesting a less developed gluten network. SL substitution for shortening did not affect P and W. The cookies incorporating SL (50 and 75% SL substitution) were similar (P<0.05) to the shortening control cookies in both baking and textural qualities, but exhibited some baking and textural quality differences at the 25 and 100% SL substitution levels. Correlations (P<0.05) were found between some Alveograph characteristics, and baking and textural qualities.     

小麦BNS雄性不育中国春恢复基因的连锁群检测和QTL初步定位

BNS是一个新发现的温敏小麦雄性不育系,有良好的不育性和自身转换性,在杂交小麦利用和不育资源研究中有重要价值。为定位BNS的恢复基因,首先以BNS的高恢复系中国春为材料,创建BNS×中国春F2作图群体,建立自交结实率和花粉可育率两个表型BSA池;然后用中国春缺体-四体系检测恢复相关连锁群;最后用这些连锁群上的SSR分子标记筛选BSA池,用检测的连锁标记筛选F2作图群体,进一步定位恢复基因的QTL位点。结果表明,用BNS与中国春缺四体杂交,根据F1不育性检测到4个相关连锁群,分别是1A、1B、2B和7B;利用4个相关连锁群和4个非相关连锁群共8个染色体上的222对SSR分子标记筛选2对共4个BSA池,结果在3个相关连锁群上检测到8对连锁标记;用这8对连锁标记筛选F2群体210个个体植株,检测到5个QTL位点,位于1A、1B和2B染色体上。这些位点中,1个与自交结实率相关,2个与两个表型均相关,是主效QTL位点,另2个与花粉可育率相关,是微效QTL位点。这些结果为BNS恢复基因分子标记选择和精细定位奠定了基础。     

Effect of flour type and dough rheological properties on cookie spread measured dynamically during baking

In order to monitor changes that occurred in cookie diameter during baking, a method of calculating cookie diameter was developed using Image Tools software. Cookie images were taken at 30-s intervals during baking using a digital camera. Six biscuit flour types were used in the trial. After the first minutes of baking, a rapid period of expansion started which was significantly different for flour types and finally, after approximately 6th min to the end of baking, cookies showed a slight shrinkage in diameter. A high and significant correlation was found between cookie spread rate and cookie final diameter (r = +0.73, P < 0.001). The technique of lubricated uniaxial compression showed all doughs made from different biscuit flour indicated pseudo-plastic rheological behaviour. However, the measured extensional properties did not correlate with the cookie final diameter.     

Effect of sodium chloride on gluten network formation,dough microstructure and rheology in relation to breadmaking

Sodium chloride (NaCl) is an essential ingredient to control the functional properties of wheat dough and bread quality. This study investigated the effect of NaCl at 0, 1 and 2%, (w/w, flour base) on the gluten network formation during dough development, the dough rheology, and the baking characteristics of two commercial flours containing different levels of protein (9.0 and 13.5%) and with different glutenin-to-gliadin ratios. Examination of the dough structure by confocal microscopy at different stages of mixing show that the gluten network formation was delayed and the formation of elongated fibril protein structure at the end of dough development when NaCl was used. The fibril structure of protein influenced the dough strength, as determined by strain hardening coefficient and hardening index obtained from the large deformation extension measurements. NaCl had a greater effect on enhancing the strength of dough prepared from the low protein flour compared to those from the high protein flour. The effect of NaCl on loaf volume and crumb structure of bread followed a similar trend. These results indicate that the effect of NaCl on dough strength and bread quality may be partially compensated by choosing flour with an appropriate amount and quality of gluten protein.