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Effects of (1→3)(1→4)-β-D-Glucans of Wheat Flour on Breadmaking¹

¹Contribution 98-41-J, Kansas Agricultural Experiment Station, Manhattan. ²Graduate research assistant, research associate, and professor, respectively, Department of Grain Science and Industry, Kansas State University, Manhattan 66506. ³Present address: R & R Research Services Inc., 8831 Quail Lane, Manhattan, KS 66502. ⁴Corresponding author. E-mail: r_and_r@kansas.net

Water-soluble nonstarch polysaccharides were extracted from commercial hard red winter wheat flour and separated into three fractions by graded ethanol precipitation. The three fractions, F15, F40, and F60, varied in polysaccharide composition. Fraction F15 was rich in watersoluble (1→3)(1→4)-β-D-glucans, and fractions F40 and F60 were rich in arabinoxylans. Addition of individual fractions to a bread formula did not affect bread loaf volume. Addition of fraction F15 to the formula improved bread crumb grain. Treatment of (1→3)(1→4)-β-D-glucan-rich fraction F15 with lichenase before its addition to the bread formula resulted in bread with poor crumb grain. Treatment of the F15 fraction with β-xylanase before its addition to the bread formula resulted in bread with slightly improved crumb grain. Presumably, the (1→3)(1→4)-β-D-glucans in fraction F15 improved crumb grain by stabilizing air cells in the bread dough and preventing coalescence of the cells. Addition of pentosan-rich fractions F40 and F60 to the bread formula did not improve crumb grain and interfered with the improving effect of (1→3)(1→4)-β-D-glucan-rich fraction F15. Hydrolysis of the arabinoxylans in flour by adding β-xylanase to the bread formula resulted in improved crumb grain.