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Generation of a Mixolab Profile After the Evaluation of the Functionality of Different Commercial Wheat Flours for Hot-Press Tortilla Production

¹ESP International, Savyon, Israel. ²Centro de Biotecnología-FEMSA, Escuela de Biotecnología y Alimentos, Tecnológico de Monterrey, Av. Eugenio Garza Sada 2501 Sur, CP 64849, Monterrey, N.L., Mexico. ³Technical specialist, US Wheat Associates, Mexico City, Mexico. ⁴USDA/ARS, Center for Grain and Animal Health Research, Grain Quality and Structure Research Unit, Manhattan, KS, U.S.A. ⁵Corresponding author. Phone: +52-8183284322. Fax: +52-8183284262. E-mail: sserna@itesm.mx

Refined wheat flours commercially produced by five different U.S. and Mexican wheat blends intended for tortilla production were tested for quality and then processed into tortillas through the hot-press forming procedure. Tortilla-making qualities of the flour samples were evaluated during dough handling, hot pressing, baking, and the first five days on the shelf at room temperature. The predominant variables that affected the flour tortilla performance were wet gluten content, alveograph W (220–303) and P/L (0.70–0.94) parameters, farinograph water absorption (57%) and stability (10.8–18.7 min), starch damage (5.43–6.71%), and size distribution curves (uniform particle distribution). Flours produced from a blend of Dark Northern Spring (80%) and Mexican Rayon (20%) wheat had the highest water absorption, and tortillas obtained from this blend showed the highest diameter and lowest thickness. The whitest and best textured tortillas were obtained from the flour milled from three hard types of Mexican wheat blend. A Mixolab profile was generated from the best tortilla flours, those produced by mills 3 and 4. The Mixolab profile showed that a good flour for hot-press tortillas had a relatively lower absorption and short dough mix time compared with a bread flour and should have a significantly higher gluten compared with an all-purpose flour. Compared with bread flour, the tortilla flour had higher retrogradation and viscosity values. The Mixolab profile proved to be a good preliminary test to evaluate flours for hot-press tortillas.