Cereal Chem 58:57 - 61.  |  VIEW ARTICLE
Flow Properties of Aqueous Gluten and Gluten Methyl Ester Dispersions.

T. Mita and H. Matsumoto. Copyright 1981 by the American Association of Cereal Chemists, Inc. 

Flow properties of dispersions of aqueous gluten and gluten methyl ester were investigated. Gluten dispersons exhibited Newtonian flow behavior at concentrations below 4%, but non-Newtonian flow behavior became more pronounced with increasing concentration above 6%. At concentrations above 14%, a hysteresis loop was observed. Gluten methyl ester, in which side-chain amide groups of gluten were partly converted to ester groups, was prepared by a treatment with methanol containing hydrogen chloride. The flow properties of gluten methyl ester dispersion differed considerably from those of gluten disperson. At concentrations above 4%, the apparent viscosity of gluten methyl ester dispersion became significantly lower than that of gluten, although the apparent viscosities of gluten and of gluten methyl ester were almost equal at concentrations below 4%. Hydrogen bonds resulting from glutamine side-chains seem to be an important factor in determining the flow properties of gluten.