Effect of low lactose dairy powder addition on the properties of gluten-free batters and bread quality

Different low lactose dairy ingredients including sodium caseinate (SC), milk protein isolate (MPI), whey protein isolates (WPIS and WPIM) and whey protein concentrate (WPC) were tested in a gluten-free bread formulation and compared to controls with the addition of no dairy ingredient (C) and one dairy ingredient containing lactose, skim milk powder. Rheological characterisation (frequency sweep and creep-recovery) of the batters at 90% water level (WL) suggested that the addition of WPIS, WPIM and WPC significantly decreased G′ and G″ values. SC and MPI had the opposite effect with a significant increase in both these parameters being found (p < 0.05). The WL of the batters was adjusted in order to obtain the same consistency of the batter C at 90% WL. A Power Law model was used to predict the new WL based on single frequency measurements of G* for each sample. The baking analysis demonstrated that the correction of the WL did not show a strong impact in the quality of the breads. Nevertheless, whey proteins demonstrated the ability to increase significantly the specific volume of the breads and decrease the hardness over time (p < 0.05). SC had a negative impact on the specific volume, which led to an increase in crumb hardness (p < 0.05).