Effect of barley and oat flour types and sourdoughs on dough rheology and bread quality of composite wheat bread

The potential of sourdough to improve bread quality of barley and oat enriched wheat breads may depend on the characteristics of the added flour (cereal type, variety, extraction rate). We compared the effect of different barley flours and oat bran (substitution level 40%), unfermented and as sourdoughs (20% of total flour), on composite wheat dough and bread characteristics by combining empirical rheological analyses (DoughLab, SMS/Kieffer Dough and Gluten Extensibility Rig) with small-scale baking of hearth loaves. Whole grain barley flour sourdough increased resistance to extension (Rmax) of the dough and improved the form ratio of hearth loaves compared to unfermented whole grain barley flour. However, sourdough showed little effect on the breads prepared with sifted barley flour or oat bran. The breads made with oat bran showed highest bread volume, lowest crumb firmness and highest β-glucan calcofluor weight average molecular weight (MW). The heat treatment of oat bran inactivated endogenous enzymes resulting in less β-glucan degradation. High MW β-glucans will increase the viscosity of the doughs water phase, which in turn may stabilise gas cells and may therefore be the reason for the higher bread volume of the oat bran breads observed in our study.     

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.     

Dough and bread made from high- and low-protein flours by vacuum mixing: Part 2. Yeast activity,dough proofing and bread quality

The combined effects of reduced mixer headspace pressure and mixing duration on the yeast activity, proofing and quality of dough and bread made from both high-protein flour (HPF) and low-protein flour (LPF) were addressed in this study. Rheofermentometer analysis showed that a reduction in mixer headspace pressure up to 0.08 MPa did not affect the overall gassing power of yeast in either of the two dough matrices. An increase in mixing duration sped up the mass transfer rate of CO₂ at the initial stage of fermentation, leading to a faster expansion of dough volume at the beginning. Moreover, an increase in mixing time promoted dough development and gas inclusion, which resulted in a increased volume of dough and bread, as well as a softer texture of both baked bread and steamed bread. In general, reduced headspace pressure produced baked bread of smaller volume, denser structure and harder texture. On the other hand, vacuum mixing produced steamed bread with softer texture without significantly changing the bread’s volume and porosity.     

Rheological properties of pasta dough during pasta extrusion: Effect of moisture and dough formulation

A study was conducted to investigate the effect of dough formulation and hydration level on the rheological properties of pasta dough during pasta extrusion. Semolina 100%, whole wheat 100%, and the following mixtures semolina-whole wheat (49:51), semolina-flaxseed flour (90:10), whole wheat-flaxseed flour (90:10), and semolina-whole wheat-flaxseed flour (39:51:10) were the formulations used for the experiments. Dough was hydrated at 30, 32, and 34% moisture content. Pasta was extruded with a capillary and a semi-commercial pasta extruder to determine the apparent viscosity of the dough during extrusion conditions and its relationship to the behavior of the dough during pasta processing. Results showed that non-traditional pasta dough behaved like a shear thinning fluid that can be described by the Power Law model. Increased hydration levels and/or presence of flaxseed flour on the dough formulation decreased the apparent viscosity of the dough, which correlated with extrusion pressure, mechanical energy, and specific mechanical energy that were required to extrude the dough in the pasta extruder. The strong correlations found between the apparent viscosity of the dough and the pasta extrusion parameters indicates the possibility of using a capillary rheometer to determine the appropriate hydration level of ingredient formulations before extruding with a pasta press.     

Soy ingredients stabilize bread dough during frozen storage

Bread with 48.5% soy ingredients was assessed for quality during frozen storage of the dough. Soy protein was hypothesized to prevent water migration during frozen storage, thereby producing dough that would exhibit fewer structural changes than traditional wheat bread. Wheat and soy bread were baked from dough that was fresh or frozen (−20 °C, 2 or 4 wks). Dough and bread were assessed for physical properties including moisture content, percent “freezable” and “unfreezable” water, dough extensibility, and bread texture. The bread was subjected to an untrained sensory panel. The soy bread was denser, chewier, and had a higher moisture content than wheat bread. When baked from fresh or frozen dough, soy bread was rated “moderately acceptable” or higher by 70% of panelists. Soy minimized changes in dough extensibility and resistive force to extension, leading to minimal changes in bread hardness. Although consumers could distinguish between bread baked from soy dough that was fresh or frozen for 4 wks, sensorial and textural data suggested that the rate at which the quality of the soy dough deteriorated was slower than that of wheat dough. In conclusion, the dough of consumer-acceptable soy bread retained quality characteristics during frozen storage slightly better than wheat dough.     

Aeration of bread dough influenced by different way of processing

The effect of steady shearing versus z-blade mixing on mechanical aeration and gas retaining ability of the dough during processing and subsequent proofing and bread baking stages was investigated. Reduction in moisture content led to reduction in both static and dynamic densities of z-blade mixed dough. At low moisture content, dough had higher consistency and tended to physically entrap more air bubbles upon processing, leading to a higher dough volume and, thereby a low density. The results showed that both processes led to similar mechanical aeration as measured by static dough density immediately after processing. Shearing at a low rotational speed, led to similar proofing dough volume as z-blade mixing did. Nevertheless, both dough expansion test and breadmaking trials showed a significant reduction in gas retaining ability of sheared dough, especially at higher rotational speeds. This is explained by the fact that higher shear rates could break up the gluten network and negatively influence gas retaining ability. The results revealed the influence of processing conditions; e.g. the type of deformation flow on dough aeration. Furthermore, it was shown that rotational speed in the shearing system influences the aeration and gas holding ability of the dough during proofing and baking processes.     

Effect of wheat dietary fibres on bread dough development and rheological properties

Several fractions of wheat fibres were isolated from starchy endosperm, aleurone layer and bran, and characterized for their hydration properties and arabinoxylans (AX) content. The influence of their addition, up to 10%, to standard flour was studied through mixing tests, and rheological tests at small and large deformations. The effect of insoluble AX on dough development was accounted for by their capacity to retain water, whatever their origin and percentage of addition. The addition of insoluble AX increased the viscoelastic plateau modulus. The addition of soluble and insoluble AX to the dough did not modify the overall dough flow behaviour in shear, characterized by a Newtonian plateau at low shear rates followed by shear-thinning behaviour at larger shear rates. This behaviour could be fitted by the Cross model. The addition of water soluble AX modified the Newtonian viscosity value. Conversely, the addition of insoluble ones increased dough consistency, probably through a filler-like effect in the dough matrix.     

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.     

Composition and surface properties of dough liquor

The composition and surface properties of dough liquor isolated by ultracentrifugation have been characterised. Addition of ascorbate had no effect and salts only a limited effect, on the yield, protein content and composition of the dough liquor. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) revealed the presence of proteins, lipids, starch oligosaccharides together with the non-starch polysaccharide, arabinoxylan. At high dilution the dough liquor air:water interface was dominated by protein, with surface tensions of around 55 mN/m and high surface elasticity. As the concentration was increased, surface tensions dropped to around 40 mN/m for undiluted dough liquor. This was accompanied by the interface becoming less elastic, and indicated that dough liquor lipids were interacting and disrupting the protein films in concentrated dough liquor. Dough liquors from de-fatted flours remained elastic and gave surface tension values of around 50–55 mN/m even at low dilution, indicating that removal of the lipids gave rise to a purely protein stabilised interface. Addition of salt to the dough had the greatest effect on the surface properties, both reducing surface tension and reducing surface elasticity, probably because the charge screening effect of the salt improved the dispersion of lipids in the dough liquor, thus enabling it to disrupt the protein films more effectively. These results indicate that the aqueous phase of bread doughs lining the gas cells would give rise to a mixed protein:lipid interface. Such interfaces are unstable, and would contribute to the instability of the foam structure of risen dough. In addition they show that dough ingredients may modify gas cell stability (and hence may affect crumb structure), by altering the composition and properties of the aqueous phase of doughs.     

The relationship between rheological characteristics of gluten-free dough and the quality of biologically leavened bread

The rheological characteristics of gluten-free doughs and their effect on the quality of biologically leavened bread were studied in amaranth, chickpea, corn, millet, quinoa and rice flour. The rheological characteristics (resistance to extension R, extensibility E, R/E modulus, extension area, stress at the moment of dough rupture) were obtained by uniaxial dough deformation. Specific loaf volume of laboratory prepared gluten-free breads was in significant positive correlation with dough resistance (r = 0.86), dough extensibility (r = 0.98) and peak stress at the moment of dough rupture (r = 0.96). Even if the correlation between R/E modulus and the characteristics of loaf quality were not significant, the breads with the highest specific loaf volume were prepared from flours with R/E closer to the wheat check sample (18 N?mm-1). The results showed, in general, good baking flours exhibited stronger resistance to extension and greater extensibility, but differences found were not directly related to the results of baking tests.     

Phytate negatively influences wheat dough and bread characteristics by interfering with cross-linking of glutenin molecules

The influence of added phytate on dough properties and bread baking quality was studied to determine the role of phytate in the impaired functional properties of whole grain wheat flour for baking bread. Phytate addition to refined flour at a 1% level substantially increased mixograph mixing time, generally increased mixograph water absorption, and reduced the SDS-unextractable protein content of dough before and after fermentation as well as the loaf volume of bread. The added phytate also shifted unextractable glutenins toward a lower molecular weight form and increased the iron-chelating activity of dough. It appears that phytate negatively affects gluten development and loaf volume by chelating iron and/or binding glutenins, and consequently interfering with the oxidative cross-linking of glutenin molecules during dough mixing. Phytate could be at least partially responsible for the weak gluten network and decreased loaf volume of whole wheat flour bread as compared to refined flour bread.     

Nonlinear,time-dependent shear flow behaviour,and shear-induced effects in wheat flour dough rheology

Retardation test, step-shear rate experiments, low-amplitude and large-amplitude dynamic measurements have been combined to study the nonlinear and time-dependent viscosity of dough and shear-induced effects of flow on dough structure. Despite large quantitative differences in linear viscoelastic constants, doughs from different flours or with different water contents display the same type of flow behaviour. Shear-induced structural changes cause flow to shift from a high viscosity steady-state regime to a low viscosity one. The process, irreversible, is responsible for the time-dependent character of dough viscosity and seems to be controlled by the mechanical energy absorbed. Nevertheless, the two steady-state viscosities follow the same shear-thinning flow curve, fitted by a Cross equation with an exponent close to 1; the Newtonian plateau is approached at very low shear rate values. Viscosity data obtained on different doughs yield a unique flow master curve in reduced coordinates. Shear-induced structural changes cause also the linear viscoelastic plateau modulus of dough to decrease; this progressive weakening of the network structure is irreversible and seems governed by the accumulated strain. These characteristics of dough rheology are discussed with reference to the behaviour of concentrated suspensions.     

Rheofermentometer parameters and bread specific volume of frozen sweet dough influenced by ingredients and dough mixing temperature

Response surface methodology described the effects of salt, lactic acid, shortening, and exogenous trehalose and dough mixing temperature (DMT) and their interactions on the three rheological and fermentation parameters. These included maximum dough height (Hm), maximum height of gas release (Hm′) and CO₂ production, measured by the Rheofermentometer F3, and bread specific volume (Sp. Vol.) of frozen sweet dough. The models could estimate the four parameters with R² values of 0.76, 0.69, 0.93, and 0.59, respectively. Salt significantly influenced all four parameters in a negative way. DMT affected positively the Hm and Sp. Vol. of bread. Lactic acid affected Hm only, but its interactions with other variables influenced all four parameters. Shortening level affected Hm′ and CO₂ production positively and Sp. Vol. negatively. The added exogenous trehalose improved Hm, Hm′, and CO₂ production significantly, but not the Sp. Vol. of bread. Among the three Rheofermentometer parameters, Hm showed the highest correlation with Sp. Vol. (R² = 0.75). DMT for the maximum Hm and Sp. Vol. varied with the level of other ingredients. Trehalose alone could not overcome the challenges in a sweet frozen dough system to improve the Sp. Vol., and its combined effects with other ingredients will need to be evaluated to restore the impaired gas retention of the frozen sweet dough.     

Influence of oxygen content of kneading atmosphere on oxygen uptake and relaxation index of bread dough with various additives

The role of oxygen during mixing of bread dough was investigated using a unique air-tight mixer in which oxygen content of the atmosphere surrounding the dough was fixed at different levels ranging from 10 to 30%. Effects of the presence in bread dough composition of various O₂ consumers, such as yeast, lipoxygenase (LOX), and additional glucose oxidase (GOX) and/or soybean or horse bean flour (containing LOX), were studied in order to characterize the competition phenomena for oxygen in the different conditions. O₂ uptake by dough during mixing was followed and relaxation tests were performed on the resulting bread dough. Variation of O₂ level of the gaseous atmosphere had no rheological impact on basic bread dough (with no additional oxidative system), even though this level was found to lead to an increase of O₂ consumption by dough, especially at the beginning of mixing. The competition for O₂ consumption among yeast, LOX and GOX was decreased by kneading under a 30% O₂ atmosphere, enabling GOX to reveal its structuring effect. Finally, mixing bread dough containing GOX under O₂-enriched atmosphere enabled keeping a standard dough relaxation index, even though dough water content was increased. This opens new perspectives for improving bread softness.     

Physico-chemical description of bread dough mixing using two-dimensional near-infrared correlation spectroscopy and moving-window two-dimensional correlation spectroscopy

NIR spectroscopy presents a huge interest in exploring chemical changes during dough mixing. The aim of the present study is to investigate the potential of 2D correlation spectroscopy (2D COS) and moving-window 2D (MW2D) correlation spectroscopy to explore the time dependence of NIR spectral responses during wheat flour dough mixing. NIR spectra were continuously recorded (between 1400 and 2325 nm) during mixing of bread type-dough (based on flour, water and yeast), using an FT-NIR spectrometer with a deported probe. The probe was positioned inside the mixer in contact with the dough. The 2D spectra calculated using raw and second derivative NIR spectra were interpreted in terms of physico-chemical events. Nine different industrial flours were used as raw material to validate the analysis. The results obtained using the 2D COS and the MW2D methods give the possibility to ascribe chemical vibrations (starch, water and gluten) to NIR absorbance changes occurring during dough mixing. The analysis of the NIR spectra identified wavelength shift associated to both dough “free water” and protein secondary structure modifications. During this study, only the MW2D method allowed to identify clearly the time dependence of physico-chemical mechanisms from NIR variation bands.     

Dough quality of bread wheat lacking α-gliadins with celiac disease epitopes and addition of celiac-safe avenins to improve dough quality

Celiac disease is a T-cell mediated immune response in the small intestine of genetically susceptible individuals caused by ingested gluten proteins from wheat, rye, and barley. In the allohexaploid bread wheat (Triticum aestivum), gluten proteins are encoded by multigene loci present on the homoeologous chromosomes 1 and 6 of the three homoeologous genomes A, B, and D. The effect of deleting individual gluten loci was analyzed in a set of deletion lines of T. aestivum cv. Chinese Spring with regard to the level of T-cell stimulatory epitopes (Glia-α9 and Glia-α20) and to technological properties of the dough including mixing, stress relaxation, and extensibility.     

Dough mixing characteristics measured by Mixsmart software as possible predictors of bread making quality in three production regions of South Africa

South Africa has three wheat production regions, the winter rainfall region where spring wheat is planted; the summer rainfall where winter and intermediate wheat is cultivated; and the irrigation region where spring wheat is grown. The aim of this study was to determine dough mixing characteristics as measured by Mixsmart^® software in these three regions over seasons and locations, and to relate this to important quality characteristics. In the winter rainfall area Mixsmart characteristics were very poor predictors of baking quality, especially of loaf volume, flour protein content and wet gluten content. The best predictors of loaf volume in this region were flour protein content and wet gluten content, which were highly interrelated. In the irrigation area, midline peak value and midline right value were very good predictors of flour protein content, gluten content and loaf volume. Midline peak value was highly correlated with protein content in both the irrigation and summer rainfall areas and was a better predictor than peak time of baking quality. The ideal would be to select several parameters from the mixograph and use them in a multivariate statistical analysis to obtain a more accurate prediction of loaf volume in the irrigation and summer rainfall areas.     

Stacking HMW-GS transgenes in bread wheat: Combining subunit 1Dy10 gives improved mixing properties and dough functionality

We have determined the technological properties of four lines containing combinations of three HMW-GS transgenes, encoding HMW-GS 1Ax1, 1Dx5 and 1Dy10. These lines were produced by conventional crossing of three single transgenic lines of the bread wheat cultivar Anza that contains the endogenous HMW-GS pairs 1Dx2 + 1Dy12 and 1Bx7* + 1By8 and is null for the Glu-A1 locus. Consequently, the total number of HMW-GS ranged from 4 in the control line Anza to 7 in line T618 which contains all three HMW-GS transgenes. The lines were studied over two years using a range of widely used grain and dough testing methods. All lines with transgenic subunits showed higher levels of glutenin proteins than the Anza control, and these differences were highly significant for lines T616, T617 and T618, containing, respectively, the transgenes encoding HMW-GS 1Ax1 and 1Dy10, 1Dx5 and 1Dy10 and 1Ax1, 1Dx5 and 1Dy10. These increases in glutenin levels are compensated by lower levels of gliadins present in transgenic lines. These changes affected the ratio of polymeric to monomeric gluten proteins (poly:mono), the ratio of HMW-GS to LMW-GS (HMW:LMW) and the contents of individual 1Ax, 1Bx, 1By, 1Dx and 1Dy subunits. Transgenic lines expressing subunit 1Dy10 together with x-type subunits (T616, T617 and T618) were superior to line T606, which had only increases in x-type subunits. In particular, the combination of transgenic subunits 1Dx5 and 1Dy10 (line T617) gave better dough rheological properties than the other combinations of transgenic subunits. For example, dough development time and stability were increased by 3.5-fold and 8.5-fold, respectively, while the mixing tolerance index (MTI) was decreased by 3.3-fold in line T617 with respect to the control line. Alveograph analyses showed that all four transgenic combinations had increased P values compared to the Anza control but subunit 1Dx5 greatly reduced the extensibility (L). These results show that stacking HMW-GS transgenes by conventional crossing is a valid strategy for the improvement of wheat quality, with different effects being related to the different HMW-GS combinations.     

The comparison of the effect of added amaranth,buckwheat, chickpea,corn, millet and quinoa flour on rice dough rheological characteristics,textural and sensory quality of bread

Gluten free (GF) flour (amaranth, buckwheat, chickpea, corn, millet and quinoa) was blended with rice flour to compare their impact on dough rheological characteristics and bread quality. The potential of some GF-rice blends in breadmaking has already been studied on blends with prevailing content of rice flour. The impact of added flour may be expected to rise with increasing amount of flour; therefore blends containing 30 g/100 g, 50 g/100 g and 70 g/100 g of GF flour in 100 g of GF-rice blend were tested. Under uniaxial deformation, peak strain was not impacted by the addition of GF flour; stress (12.3 kPa) was, however, significantly (P < 0.05) decreased (2.9–6.2 kPa). The reduction initiated by the presence of buckwheat, chickpea, quinoa and partly amaranth, together with thermally-induced dough weakening initiated by buckwheat and quinoa flour, may be related to significantly better crumb porosity. Overall acceptability of composite breads containing amaranth, chickpea and quinoa was negatively impacted by the aroma and taste of these flours. Higher potential to improve rice dough behavior and bread quality was found in the blend containing buckwheat flour (30 g/100 g; 50 g/100 g). Millet and corn flour deteriorated dough and bread quality.     

Wholemeal wheat bread: A comparison of different breadmaking processes and fungal phytase addition

The effect of different breadmaking processes (conventional, frozen dough, frozen partially baked bread) and the effect of the storage period on the technological quality of fresh wholemeal wheat breads are investigated. In addition, the impact of the exogenous fungal phytase on the phytate content was also determined. Results showed that breadmaking technology significantly affected the quality parameters of wholemeal breads (specific volume, moisture content, crumb and crust colour, crumb texture profile analysis and crust flaking) and frozen storage affected to a different extent the quality of the loaves obtained from partially baked breads and those obtained from frozen dough, particularly crust flaking. Freezing and frozen storage of wholemeal bread in the presence of fungal phytase decreased significantly the phytate content in whole wheat breads. The combination of fungal phytase addition, breadmaking process and frozen storage could be advisable for overcoming the detrimental effect of bran on the mineral bioavailability.