Dynamic rheology of wheat flour dough. II. Assessment of dough strength and bread‐making quality

Controlled stress rheometry revealed that differences in wheat flour dough strengths could be observed by means of dynamic rheological measurements in the region of higher stress amplitude (ie >100 Pa). At lower stress amplitude (τ_o) the values of elastic modulus G′ for weak doughs were higher than those for strong doughs, but they decreased substantially beyond 100 Pa stress amplitude (τ_o), such that the G′ values for strong doughs crossed over the G′ values for weak doughs. Beyond a critical value of stress amplitude (ie 100 Pa), true differences in dough strengths could be seen on the basis of their elastic characteristics, because at large deformations protein–protein interactions played a more dominant role in the rheological behaviour of flour doughs. Dynamic rheological analysis demonstrated a very weak inverse relationship (R² = 0.16) between the G′ values of flour doughs and loaf volume data for 12 wheat cultivars of diverse bread‐making performance. However, the G′ values of glutens showed significant positive relationships with bread‐making performance, explaining 73% of the variation in loaf volume. © 2002 Society of Chemical Industry