A study of how size distribution of gluten proteins, surface properties of gluten and dough mixing properties relate to baking properties of wheat flours

By using multivariate statistical methods an overview was obtained of how size distribution of proteins, surface properties of freeze-dried gluten, sedimentation tests, glutenin macropolymer (GMP, gel protein) properties and dough rheological tests were related to properties of hearth and pan loaves produced by small-scale experimental baking. Both oil absorption capacity and hydration capacity of gluten were positively related to loaf form ratio as well as to mixing properties, the presence of high molecular weight (HMW) glutenin subunits 5+10, the proportion of SDS-insoluble glutenins and the rheological properties of glutenin macropolymer. Within each cultivar, higher four protein content gave lower oil absorption capacity and hydration capacity. This could be related to the observed increase in the proportion of monomeric proteins, which are likely to have different surface properties than the polymeric proteins. Whereas an increased flour protein content positively affected pan loaf volume, this change in ration between monomeric and polymeric proteins negatively affected the form ratio of hearth loaf. The results confirmed that hearth loaf provides a better model system than pan loaf for distinguishing between the effects of protein content and protein composition. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd.