Cereal Chem 60:355 - 359.  |  VIEW ARTICLE
Preharvest Sprouting of Winter Wheat. I. Rheological Properties of Flours and Physicochemical Characteristics of Starches.

K. Kulp, P. Roewe-Smith, and K. Lorenz. Copyright 1983 by the American Association of Cereal Chemists, Inc. 

The objective of this study was to determine the effect of field sprouting on breadbaking and other functional properties of flours and their gluten and starch components. Compositional characteristics (visual sprouting, protein, ash, and falling number) of flours used are reported. Rheological evaluations showed gradual weakening of doughs (mixograph) with little effect on mixing time and absorptions. Amylograph peak viscosities decreased with decreasing falling number values. Physicochemical characteristics of wheat starches isolated from flours derived from field-sprouted and sound wheat were determined. To eliminate the effect of alpha-amylase on these measurements, the starches were subjected to enzyme-inactivation treatment. Solubility, swelling powers, viscogram indices, and gelatinization temperature ranges were virtually unaffected by sprouting; water-binding capacity was slightly higher for samples from sprouted wheats than for controls. Scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction studies failed to show changes attributable to in situ damage of the granules during sprouting.