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Textural Comparisons of Gluten-Free and Wheat-Based Doughs, Batters, and Breads

¹Department of Food and Nutritional Sciences, University College Cork, Ireland. ²National Food Biotechnology Centre, University College Cork, Ireland. ³Department of Anatomy, University College Cork, Ireland. ⁴Corresponding author. Phone: +353-21-4902064. Fax: +353-21-4270213. E-mail: e.arendt@ucc.ie

Studies were conducted with two newly developed gluten-free bread recipes. One was based on corn starch (relative amount 54), brown rice (25), soya (12.5), and buckwheat flour (8.5), while the other contained brown rice flour (50), skim milk powder (37.5), whole egg (30), potato (25), and corn starch (12.5), and soya flour (12.5). The hydrocolloids used were xanthan gum (1.25) and xanthan (0.9) plus konjac gum (1.5), respectively. Wheat bread and gluten-free bread made from commercial flour mix were included for comparison. Baking tests showed that wheat and the bread made from the commercial flour mix yielded significantly higher loaf volumes (P < 0.01). All the gluten-free breads were brittle after two days of storage, detectable by the occurrence of fracture, and the decrease in springiness (P < 0.01), cohesiveness (P < 0.01), and resilience (P < 0.01) derived from texture profile analysis. However, these changes were generally less pronounced for the dairy-based gluten-free bread, indicating a better keeping quality. Confocal laser-scanning microscopy showed that the dairy-based gluten-free bread crumb contained network-like structures resembling the gluten network in wheat bread crumb. It was concluded that the formation of a continuous protein phase is critical for an improved keeping quality of gluten-free bread.