Cereal Chem 39:411 - 426.  |  VIEW ARTICLE

The Effects of Iodate, N-Ethylmaleimide, and Oxygen on the Mixing Tolerance of Doughs.

P. Meredith and W. Bushuk. Copyright 1962 by the American Association of Cereal Chemists, Inc. 

The effect of two sulfhydryl reagents, N-ethylmaleimide (NEMI) and iodate, added to doughs mixed in nitrogen, air, and oxygen, was studied using the farinograph, the extensigraph, and a technique to estimate the acid-insoluble part of washed gluten. Both reagents cause dough breakdown during mixing in nitrogen, but NEMI is more effective. The effect of iodate seems to reach a saturation point where more is ineffective; additional NEMI continues to show effect but at a diminishing rate. In doughs mixed in air or oxygen, the effect of incorporated oxygen is superposed on that of iodate or NEMI; oxygen alone has only slight effects during analogous mixing times. Dough breakdown occurs with less iodate or NEMI when mixed in air or nitrogen. Oxygen has an added effect regardless of how much iodate is present; this effect occurs only at lower dosages of NEMI. NEMI added to iodate-treated dough causes additional breakdown; there is no similar effect when the reagents are reversed. The results are therefore discussed in terms of the role of the sulfhydryl groups in chemical and physical changes in dough structure.