Cereal Chem. 73 (3):375-378  |  VIEW ARTICLE

Proteins

Effect of High-Temperature Short-Time Treatment of Wheat Flour on Gluten Vitality and Structure.

Nicoletta Guerrieri (1,2) and Paolo Cerletti (1). (1) Dipartimento di Scienze Molecolari Agroalimentari, Universita' degli Studi di Milano, via Celoria 2, 20133 Milano, Italy. (2) Corresponding author: Fax: 39-2-70633062. Accepted February 29, 1996. This article is in the public domain and not copyrightable. It may be freely reprinted with customary crediting of the source. American Association of Cereal Chemists, Inc., 1996. 

The effect of high-temperature short-time (HTST) applications on gluten in its natural flour environment was investigated. Changes occurring in HTST-treated samples during storage and in samples subjected to severe thermal denaturation were studied. Sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) profiles of the gluten polypeptides, and the intrinsic fluorescence, were modified only in the heat-denatured preparation. On the other hand, after HTST treatment changes in the extrinsic fluorescence (8-aniline-1-naphthalene sulfonate [ANS] binding) revealed enhanced surface hydrophobicity, which however, regressed on storage. Consistent with these observations was the amount of the associated water. It appears that it is the gluten surface that is mainly affected by HTST treatment, and this could represent a very early stage of heat damage of gluten.