Predicting hot-press wheat tortilla quality using flour,dough and gluten properties

A cost-effective, faster and efficient way of screening wheat samples suitable for tortilla production is needed. This research aimed to develop prediction models for tortilla quality (diameter, specific volume, color and texture parameters) using grain, flour and dough properties of 16 wheat flours. Another set of 18 samples was used to validate the models. The prediction models were developed using stepwise multiple regression. Dough rheological tests had higher correlations with tortilla quality than grain and flour chemical tests. Mixograph mixing time and dough resistance to extension (from extensibility test using a texture analyzer) were correlated best with tortilla quality, particularly tortilla diameter (r = −0.87 and −0.86 respectively, P < 0.01). Insoluble polymeric proteins (IPP) and gluten index were significantly correlated with tortilla diameter (r = −0.70 and −0.67 respectively, P < 0.01) and specific volume (r = −0.73, P < 0.01). Tortilla diameter was the quality parameter best explained (R² = 0.86) by the prediction models using mixing time and dough resistance to extension. Rheological parameters such as rupture distance and maximum force were also successfully predicted. These prediction models, developed from linear equations, will be an easy and fast tool for breeders to advance or eliminate wheat lines specifically bred for tortilla production.     

Thermal and rheological properties of brown flour from Indica rice

The thermal, paste and rheological properties of brown flours from four Indica rice subspecies with different amylose content were examined using Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), Brabender Viscometer and rheometer. Peak, final and setback viscosities (p < 0.05) increased with increasing amylose content from Brabender micro Visco-Amylo-Graph (MVA), but the phase transition temperatures of brown rice flour from DSC (p < 0.05) decreased with increasing amylose content. Rheological properties were determined by steady shear, small amplitude oscillatory shear (SAOS) and thixotropic experiments. SAOS results showed a gel-like viscoelastic behavior with G′ higher than G″. Steady-shear results showed that the brown rice flour exhibited a non-Newtonian shear-thinning behavior and the flow curves can be well described by the Herschel-Bulkley model. The upward-downward rheograms showed that brown rice flour gel, except IR-1, had a hysteresis loop, indicating a strong thixotropic behavior.     

Effect of aging at different temperatures on LAOS properties and secondary protein structure of hard wheat flour dough

The effects of aging from t = 0–108 h at two different temperatures (4 and 25 °C) on the non-linear viscoelastic rheological properties and secondary protein structure of hard wheat flour dough (HWD) were investigated using large amplitude oscillatory shear tests (LAOS) coupled with Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and SDS-PAGE. Storage (G') and loss (G'') moduli rapidly decreased during aging at 25 °C. Subjecting HWD to progressively longer aging times at 25 °C caused dramatic changes in the non-linear viscoelastic properties demonstrated by strain softening (negative values of e₃/e₁) and shear thinning (negative values of v₃/v₁) behavior. Elastic Lissajous curves of the unaged control dough showed clockwise turn and wider elliptical trajectories as dough aging proceeds especially at higher temperatures. Other non-linear LAOS parameters (G'_M-G''_L, η'_M-η'_L, S and T) supported that aging process at higher temperature caused a progressive change in dough structure from strain stiffening to strain softening behavior while dough samples aged at 4 °C showed fairly close behavior with the control dough sample. FTIR spectra indicated that the relative content of β-sheet and β-turn structures decreased while the content of α-helix structure increased for all dough samples as a result of dough aging. SDS-PAGE results supported the breakdown of high molecular weight (HMW) and low molecular weight (LMW) glutenin subfractions. Aging at the higher temperature of 25 °C decreased the HMW/LMW ratio from 0.77 to 0.59, while the ratio was 0.73 for the dough aged at 4 °C which is fairly close to the control sample. Our results show that the degradation rate of gluten/starch network was triggered by aging at higher temperature, longer aging time, and natural fermentation which resulted in increasing acidity and increase in endogenous proteolytic and amylolytic activity, and also increasing gluten solubility and break down of intermolecular disulfide bonds at acid pH.     

Effect of the addition of extruded wheat flours on dough rheology and bread quality

Extruded wheat flours, due to their increased water absorption capacity, constitute an opportunity to increase bread output in bakery production. However extrusion may modify dough and bread characteristics. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of the substitution of 5% of the wheat flour by extruded wheat flour (produced with different time-temperature extrusion treatments) on dough mixing, handling and fermentation behaviour and bread volume, shape, texture and colour. The RVA curves indicate that extrusion intensity increases with increasing temperature or water content. Water absorption capacity rises with increasing treatment intensity, but dough stability tends to decrease. Adding extruded flours decreases dough extensibility but increases tenacity and gas production. Differences in dough structure were observed on photomicrography, though there were no clear differences in bread quality. These results indicate that it is possible to obtain adequate dough and bread characteristics using dough with 5% extruded wheat flour.     

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.     

Extensional rheological properties in mixed and fermented/rested dough and relationships with steamed bread quality

In this study, sixteen wheat varieties for cultivation in China were examined for the flour characteristics using the farinograph, extensograph and rheofermentometer, uniaxial extensional rheology employing the extensograph and the Kieffer extensibility rig and biaxial extension by uniaxial compression of mixed dough with and without yeast, rested and fermented dough, and steamed bread quality including specific volume and texture properties. Three statistical analysis methods including Pearson correlation, principle component and stepwise multiple regression analysis were carried out to correlate dough properties with steamed bread quality. Biaxial extension viscosity was positively correlated with texture properties (hardness and chewiness) of steamed bread (r = 0.521–0.685, p < 0.05). Based on the correlation coefficients and the model (r² = 0.852, p = 0.003) obtained using stepwise multiple regression analysis, the best predictors for specific volume of steamed bread were the maximum resistance to extension of rested dough (r = 0.664, p < 0.01) and total work for breakage of fermented dough (r = 0.662, p < 0.01). Principal component analysis of rheological properties of fermented dough and flour characteristics provided more useful information for discriminating wheat flour quality and help breeders to select most convenient wheat flour for the steamed bread making.     

Feature of air classification product in wheat milling: Physicochemical,rheological properties of filter flour

Wheat filter flours are by-products obtained from air-classification of wheat flour. Physicochemical and rheological properties of wheat filter flours were investigated in the present study. Average values of crude protein, gluten, lipid and damaged starch content of filter flours were higher than those of standard flours for the same batch. The positive correlation of particles with size <20 μm and damaged starch was found. Moreover, the filter flours had higher water absorption, stability time except head milling filter flour samples. Short peak time and low peak viscosity were also observed. Different composition of wheat filter flours may be an important factor influencing its properties. This study is very useful for exploring the utilization of wheat filter flours in the food industry.     

Mineral bioaccessibility in French breads fortified with different forms iron and its effects on rheological and technological parameters

The present study investigated the effect of different forms of Fe used in the fortification of wheat flour on the rheological characteristics of flour and technological quality of French breads and the bioaccessibility of added Fe, Zn and Ca naturally occurring by in vitro assay. The results demonstrated that the wheat flour was suitable for use in bakery products; however, the farinograph and extensograph parameters were affected by different forms of Fe, which also changed the technological quality of breads, with no negative impacts on bread making. The NaFeEDTA and SF microencapsulated proved to be the most effective’s forms of iron, due to its higher dialyzed Fe content. Zinc bioaccessibility is not high, thus the NaFeEDTA contributed positively for the absorption of this mineral. In contrast, a high bioaccessibility of calcium was observed, which was not affected by the majority forms of iron. Additionally, Fe, Ca and Zn naturally occurring also presented high bioacessibility. Thus, French bread made with flour fortified with iron can contribute to demand and supply of minerals, and the form of Fe used can affect not only Fe bioaccessibility, but also Zn, leading to changes in the rheological properties of wheat flour and technological quality.     

Modification of the rheological behavior of amaranth (Amaranthus hypochondriacus) dough

For people with celiac disease, a lifelong abdication of gluten including-products is necessary to live a life without celiac affected reactions. The production of high-quality bread from gluten free flour is not simple in comparison to gluten including flours such as those derived from wheat (Triticum spp.). The gas binding and crumb structure forming capacity are very low in gluten free batters. They can efficiently be analyzed through the rheological properties of the dough used. The use of acidification in amaranth (Amaranthus hypochondriacus) dough preparation is a possible means of changing the rheological behavior of amaranth in the desired direction. Methods include the use of lactic acid directly, or the fermentation via lactic acid bacteria. Adding up to 20 mL lactic acid/kg flour in amaranth dough preparation led, during oscillation tests, to an increase of the complex shear modulus up to 30% in the range of 0.1 up to 10 Hz. The use of sourdough fermentation decreased the complex shear modulus in the same test up to nearly 60%. In creep recovery tests, the elastic part of amaranth dough decreased from 65.4% without any treatment down to 63.9% by the addition of up to 20 mL lactic acid/kg flour. Sourdough fermentation by Lactobacillus plantarum was able to decrease it to 54%. The acidification showed a significant positive influence on the rheological parameters of amaranth dough only at the higher stress level. In contrast, sourdough fermentation was able to produce doughs with viscosity and elasticity similar to that found in pure wheat flours.     

Cellular structure and rheological properties of shaped fermented wheat flour dough

Among the various operations of the breadmaking chain, the impact of shaping on dough cellular structure has scarcely been studied. In this work, wheat flour dough has been laminated under different roll gap conditions δ(mm)= (2,5, 10, 20, ∞). Rheological properties were measured under large and small strains, by lubricated squeezing flow test and dynamic thermomechanical analysis, respectively. Laminating has a limited effect on the elongational viscosity of the dough. However, the minimum value of the ratio of storage modulus reached for gap δ = 5 mm suggests that gluten network structuration is improved in this case. The kinetics of porosity and shape ratio of fermenting laminated doughs were calculated from image analysis of dough follow-up during proofing. They showed that stability is improved for δ = 5 mm. Finally, Xray tomography experiments, performed on laminated rolled dough during proofing, confirmed that the main changes can be attributed to an increase of cellular homogeneity at δ = 5 mm, reflected by lower median gas cell size and less spread size distributions.     

Study of the impact of wheat flour type,flour particle size and protein content in a cake-like dough: Proton mobility and rheological properties assessment

The study of food products is always a challenge due to the number of components involved and the interactions that may occur between them. Water is a particular ingredient which interacts with all hydrophilic compounds, although affinities may differ for limiting water amount. During this study, results obtained using ¹H NMR on cake dough were compared in terms of the effects of flour type (soft or medium hard), the addition of gluten (5%–20%) and the use of soft flour fractions (flour particle fractions smaller or larger than 50 μm). T₂ values and the signal intensities of different proton populations were studied as a function of the wheat protein contents of dough samples. Physicochemical characterization methods were used to better understand how the origin and particle size of flour might impact the hydration properties and mobility of a model system. Increasing the protein content in dough samples was related to an increase of the mobility of fat protons and of the least mobile proton population (relaxation times ranging from 175 to 180 ms and from 5 to 7 ms, respectively).     

Optimization of rheological properties of gluten-free pasta dough using mixture design

The rising demand of gluten-free products for celiac people has led to important technological research on the replacement of the gluten matrix in the production of high quality gluten-free foods. The objective of this work was to evaluate the effect of composition (hydrocolloids, water, and proteins) on the rheological and textural properties of gluten-free dough used for producing pasta based on corn-starch and corn flour. Extensibility and rheological properties of gluten-free pasta dough were studied. Rising protein or gum contents produced a marked increase of deformation at break. However protein content was negatively correlated with breaking force. The increase in gums content produced an increase in storage and loss moduli (G′, G″). G′ was always larger than G″ with a small increase of both moduli with frequency. The mechanical relaxation spectrum was predicted from dynamic oscillatory data using the broadened Baumgaertel–Schausberger–Winter model. Application of a mixture design allowed finding the optimal composition to achieve the desirable textural properties using response surface methodology. A formulation containing 35.5% water, 2.5% gums, 4.7% proteins, 42.8% corn-starch, 10.7% corn flour, 1% NaCl, and 2.8% sunflower oil led to the highest values of G′, breaking force, and extensibility according to the optimization analysis performed.     

Effect of stir-frying on oat milling and pasting properties and rheological properties of oat flour

Stir-frying, similar to roasting, is a key step for oat milling process in China. The oat flour milling yield of Bayou No.2 and Bayou No.8 and their corresponding flour quality were investigated under different processing conditions (160 °C, for 0, 10, 20, 30 and 40 min). Results showed that oat flour milling yield was increased after stir-frying, Bayou No.2 and Bayou No.8 reached the highest yield after a 10 min and 20 min of stir-frying, which were 45.40% and 52.96%, respectively. With the increasing of stir-frying time, the gelatinization degree and the particle size of oat flour gradually increased, while their angle of repose and L* values were reduced. RVA studies showed that the stir-fried oat flour exhibited lower peak, trough, breakdown and setback viscosities compared to not stir-fried oat flour, indicating that stir-fried oat flour formed a more stable network structure and stir-frying induced an inhibitory effect on the retrogradation of oat flour paste. Rheological analysis suggested that the low tanδ of stir-fried oat flour than that of not stir-fried oat flour, revealing that the stir-fried oat flour paste exhibited more elastic but less viscous behavior.     

Impact of re-grinding on hydration properties and surface composition of wheat flour

The combination of two analytical methodologies (water vapor sorption isotherm by using the DVS and chemical surface composition by using the XPS) has been used to enhance the understanding of the impact of re-grinding on the wheat flour hydration mechanism. A controlled atmosphere microbalance was used to construct water sorption isotherms at 25 °C of different samples of wheat flours obtained by successive re-grinding of native wheat flour.     

Modification of protein structure and dough rheological properties of wheat flour through superheated steam treatment

Native (NF, 13.5% w.b) and moistened (MF, 27% w.b) wheat flours were treated with superheated steam (SS) at 170 °C for 1, 2 and 4 min, and their protein structure as well as dough rheological properties were analyzed. Confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) and SDS-PAGE patterns indicated the formation of protein aggregates with reduced SDS extractability after treatment. Farinograph and dynamic rheometry measurements showed that the strength as well as elastic and viscous moduli of the dough made from SS-treated flours progressively increased with SS treatment time. And both the improvements were more pronounced for superheated steam-treated moistened flours (SS-MF) than for superheated steam-treated native flours (SS-NF). Size-exclusion high performance liquid chromatography (SE-HPLC) analysis demonstrated that dough rheological parameters have positive correlations with SDS unextractable polymeric proteins (UPP) contents. SS treatment on flours led to a transition of protein secondary structures to more ordered form (α-helix and β-sheet). Additionally, free sulfhydryl (SH) contents decreased after treatment, which implied that disulfide bonds accounted for protein extractability loss and dough rheological properties improvement. Elevated moisture level promoted the modification of both protein structure and dough behaviors of flours during SS treatment.     

Wheat flour protein content and water absorption analysis in a doubled haploid population

A wheat×maize induced doubled haploid population that segregates at the Awned locus for awned and awnless phenotypes were studied at two field sites using a genetic linkage map. Interval QTL analysis indicated that significant QTLs for wheat flour water absorption and protein content were located on a linkage group associated with the morphological marker, awns. The QTL peak for flour water absorption was located at the Awned locus (B1, 5AL), whilst the QTL peak for protein content was located nearby, 10.1 cm away from the Awned locus. The locations of those QTL were confirmed by analysing data from two independent field trials conducted under different environment conditions. The QTL identified for water absorption controlled 12% and 11% of the observed variance at the two field trials, whilst for flour protein content the QTL explained 7% and 19% of the variance respectively. Variance component analysis indicated that the QTL for water absorption controlled approximately 14.8–25.0% and 13.6–23% of the genetic variance at the two sites studied (Roma and Jimbour) whilst the QTL for protein content explained between 12.8% and 30.4% of the genetic variance at Roma and 34.7–82.6% at Jimbour. Cross-site analysis with composite interval mapping approach resulted in significant LOD values of 6.12 and 9.94 for water absorption and protein content, respectively. The QTL for water absorption was independent from the hardness locus.     

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.     

Solvent retention capacity and swelling index of glutenin in hard red wheat flour as possible indicators of rheological and baking quality characteristics

To overcome the cost and expense of milling and baking hundreds of samples in wheat breeding programs, cereal chemists have developed various rapid predictive tests for end-use quality assessment. In this study, five small-scale rapid tests, including Solvent Retention Capacity (SRC) and Swelling Index of Glutenin (SIG), were compared for viability and accuracy to determine end-use quality using small quantities of flour. The tests were applied on commercial hard red spring and hard red winter wheat cultivars from two of the three main production regions in South Africa. Rheological and bread-baking characteristics were related to results of the rapid tests. Highly significant cultivar differences were seen for all rheological and baking-related characteristics, and SRC and SIG parameters, with a strong genotype effect. The environment effect was also highly significant across regions, especially for flour protein content (FPC), which affected the rheological and baking-related characteristics differently across the regions. Correlations among SRC, SIG, rheological, and baking quality-related parameters were highly significant, but inconsistent for the two production regions. Only lactic acid SRC and SIG correlated consistently with the rheological and baking quality-related characteristics in both production regions.     

Effect of barley flour addition on the physico-chemical properties of dough and structure of bread

The effects of different percentages of barley flour (i.e. 0–25%) in wheat flours on the physico-chemical properties and structure of dough and bread were investigated. As the percentage of barley flour in mixed flour was increased, its protein and gluten contents decreased whereas the ash content and enzyme activity increased. The rheological characteristics of the four dough mixes were studied using Farinograph, Extensograph and Alveograph. The water absorption (p < 0.01) and stability (p < 0.05) decreased significantly as the percentage of barley flour increased, while no changes were observed in the extensibility and maximum heights. Significant differences were observed in the structural and physical properties as well as in the image analysis of breads. With the increase in the percentage of barley flour, the crumb apparent density decreased (p < 0.1) whereas the porosity (i.e., fraction to total volume) increased (p < 0.1). Overall, the shape and pore structure at 10% barley flour (W90B10) were similar to the pure wheat flour bread, while addition at 15 and 25% of barley flour (W85B15 and W75B25) showed more non-uniform and larger pores.