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Objective Texture Measurements of Commercial Wheat Flour Tortillas¹

¹Contribution No. 01-36-J of the Kansas State University Agricultural Experiment Station, Manhattan, KS. ²Graduate research assistant, Department of Grain Science and Industry, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS 66506. ³Formerly with the Department of Grain Science and Industry, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS. Currently with the USDA-ARS Eastern Regional Research Center, Microbial Food Safety Research Unit, Wyndmoor, PA 19038. Names are necessary to report factually on available data; however, the USDA neither guarantees nor warrants the standard of the product, and the use of the name by the USDA implies no approval of the product to the exclusion of others that may also be suitable. ⁴Corresponding author. Fax: 215-233-6559. Phone: 215-233-6489. E-mail: rflores@arserrc.gov. ⁵Associate professor. Department of Statistics, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS 66506.

Texture is a property of major importance in the evaluation of baked products. To determine a sample of commercial ranges for stretchability, rollability, firmness, and Kramer shear cell measurements for wheat flour tortillas using the TA-XT2 texture analyzer, three separate sets of five tortilla brands purchased from stores in Manhattan, KS, were evaluated. Two brands had two formulations, regular and fat-free. Significant differences (P < 0.05) in stretchability, firmness, and Kramer shear cell occurred between regular and fat-free tortillas of one tortilla brand. Significant differences (P < 0.05) also were found among the sets of some tortilla brands. Kramer shear cell and stretchability measurements are recommended because Kramer shear cell measures the force combined with compression, shearing, and extrusion. Stretchability measurements were repeatable and are an important textural property of wheat flour tortillas. Ranges for textural properties for commercial wheat flour tortillas were determined, as well as the variability of the textural methods used.