Investigation of rheological properties of zein dough and its qualitative indicators

Abstract

Since gluten-free dough lacks structuring gluten, it should be replaced by hydrocolloids or other water-binding compounds, such as guar gum, xanthan or hydroxypropylmethylcellulose. Typically, gluten-free bread recipes contain higher amounts of starch and are processed with more water compared to wheat and rye doughs, resulting in a liquid dough consistency. As a consequence, the overall nutritional value of these breads is not well balanced. They are rich in carbohydrates and lack dietary fiber. Zein is a unique substitute for gluten in a gluten-free system because of its viscoelastic properties similar to gluten. Corn grain prolamin, zein, has shown some promise in behaving like wheat gluten because it can form a viscoelastic protein network when the protein is held and mixed at 35°C or more, which is above its glass transition temperature (Tg). Zein (corn prolamine) can exhibit viscoelastic functionality similar to gluten in aqueous dough systems when heated above its glass transition temperature (Tg). These zein-based doughs exhibit a fibrous network that also exhibits characteristics similar to those of gluten-based doughs. However, such zein-based doughs have limited gas-holding capacity and are significantly more stretchable than gluten-based doughs. In this paper, we investigate the rheological properties of zein-based dough and its quality parameters.