Effect of heat on rheology, surface hydrophobicity and molecular weight distribution of glutens extracted from flours with different bread-making quality

Gluten was extracted from flours of several different wheat varieties of varying baking quality. Creep compliance was measured at room temperature and tan δ was measured over a range of temperatures from 25 to 95 °C. The extracted glutens were heat-treated for 20 min at 25, 40, 50, 60, 70 and 90 °C in a water bath, freeze-dried and ground to a fine powder. Tests were carried out for extractability in sodium dodecyl sulphate, free sulphydryl (SH) groups using Ellman's method, surface hydrophobicity and molecular weight (MW) distribution (MWD) using field-flow fractionation and multi-angle laser light scattering. With increasing temperature, the glutens showed a decrease in extractability, with the most rapid decreases occurring between 70 and 90 °C, a major transition in tan δ at around 60 °C and a minor transition at 40 °C for most varieties, a decrease in free SH groups and surface hydrophobicity and a shift in the MWD towards higher MW. The poor bread-making variety Riband showed the highest values of tan δ and Newtonian compliance, the lowest content of free SH groups and the largest increase of HMW/LMW with increasing temperature. No significant correlations with baking volume were found between any of the measured parameters.