Methods for the characterization of wheat flour and wheat flour dough in the context of frozen processing (Volume 5) (English shop)

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Freezing bread dough allows a considerable increase in operational flexibility in the baking industry, but this comes at the expense of product quality.

The physical and chemical changes occurring during freezing, frozen storage and thawing are so far only partly understood. The first aim of the present work was to develop a method for investigating the microstructure of frozen bread dough. The method uses the specific Raman spectra of the main constituents of frozen dough in order to determine their respective spatial distribution in the samples and to generate corresponding images. In the images obtained in this way, ice appeared as a continuous three-dimensional network. Furthermore, it was shown that the formation of larger ice blocks during freezing is strongly limited by the presence of the other dough constituents.

Wheat flour has a complex chemical composition, resulting from numerous genetic as well as environmental and processing factors. The second aim of the work was to identify, among the analytical methods commonly used in the value chain, those that provide the best indication of the suitability of flours for frozen applications. Methods characterising the functionality of gluten as well as water absorption proved to be particularly relevant in this respect.