Cereal Chem 54:717 - 727.  |  VIEW ARTICLE
Microwave Conditioning of Hard Red Spring Wheat. I. Effects of Wide Power Range on Flour and Bread Quality.

N. C. Doty and C. W. Baker. Copyright 1977 by the American Association of Cereal Chemists, Inc. 

Waltron hard red spring wheat was conditioned in a closed system with up to 450 sec of microwave energy (625 watts) before experimental Buhler milling and baking. The temperature of conditioned samples ranged from 22 C (0 sec) to 105 C (450 sec). Analysis of the flour and bread indicated that physicochemically important quality parameters were adversely affected after 270 sec (+20.2 cal/G) of microwave conditioning. Most noteworthy among the reduced quality parameters were: a) decreased extraction, b) increased ash, c) increased dough strength, d) decreased beta-amylase activity, e) increased retrogradation, f) increased flour viscosity, g) decreased loaf volume, and h) decreased external and internal loaf characteristics. Starch damage decreased up to 360 sec of conditioning. Falling number values indicated that the low initial dextrinogenic activity was essentially unchanged throughout the 450-sec time of irradiation. Overall, flour and bread quality were highest after 90 sec (+6.7 cal/g) of microwave exposure.