Effects of composition on dough development and air entrainment in doughs made from gluten-starch blends

Gluten and starch are the two main ingredients of a wheat flour dough and it is expected that the extent of air occlusion into the dough would be affected by differences in their relative ratios. The objectives of this paper were to investigate the hydration and development of gluten and how these key events in dough mixing affected air occlusion in gluten-starch doughs. For gluten-starch doughs of the same gluten content, decreasing the water absorption shortened development time and decreased dough density. For formulations of the same water absorption, decreasing the gluten content prolonged the time to development and increased dough density, reflecting less net air entrainment into the dough. The ratios of gluten, starch and water strongly influenced the development of the dough into a good gas-holding material, with the extent of gas entrainment during mixing being evident in measurements of both dough consistency and dough development time.