GLUTEN IN WHEAT FLOUR

Introduction

Wheat grains have from 8% to 14 % protein content. The amount and type of
protein in flour affects the final product. The wheat proteins responsible for developing
bread’s characteristic structure called gliadin and glutenin. These proteins get hydrated
during the kneading of a dough forming the gluten which gives the dough its plastic
properties. Gluten is a strong elastic substance which forms a network throughout the
dough. The network traps carbon dioxide, produced by the added yeast and allows the
dough to rise. The process of kneading dough helps develop the gluten network. Fat and
sugar can inhibit gluten development. In products such as cakes, biscuits and pastry, flour
with a lower protein content is mixed with fat to produce a crumbly and light texture.
The quality of regular flour depends on the amount and quality of the gluten in it, so its
determination is an important part of the quality control in bakeries. The minimum gluten
content for a wheat flour should be about 24% (wet) and 8% (dry). The method of
assessment consists in kneading a known mass of wheat flour with water, letting it stand to
complete protein hydration and washing away the starch (starch is the main constituent of
flour). The remaining elastic substance is hydrated gluten that is subsequently weighed,
dried and weighed once again
Gluten-free flour is most commonly used in products specifically
manufactured for people with gluten allergy or coeliac disease. This used
to be considered a rare condition, but new research suggests that 1 in 100
may be affected! Gluten free flour is made from wheat flour which has
had most of the proteins, removed. Gluten free products are identified with
the symbol you see on the right side.

Aims

To determine the gluten content of wheat flour

Lab ware

Beakers, balance, glass rod, watch glass, test tubes, teat pipettes

Procedure

1- Weigh carefully 50,0 g of flour and put in a mortar or a dish.

2- Add 10 ml of water and mix with a rod. See that a dough is formed that will not stick
to the walls of beaker or mortar. Eventually add 1-2 ml of water and keep on kneading.
3- Once the dough is formed, knead a further five minutes. You can use your fingers now
but not before.
4- Let the dough rest for 10 minutes at least in the container. Cover it with a film or a sheet
of paper so that it won’t get dry.
5- Take a small part of the dough with your fingers and kneading it continuously under a
thin stream of tap water, rinse the starch away. A better procedure would be to rinse the
dough with salt solution but for most purposes this method suffices.
6- When starch has been completely eliminated (you may test in a sample as indicated
below) put the small chewing-gum-looking ball of wet gluten on a tared watch glass.
7- Once that all of the dough has been washed, the gluten balls in the watch glass are
weighed and afterwards dried in an oven at 80º. We will leave it close to a lighted
Bunsen burner below a wire gauze on a tripod.
8- Weigh the dry gluten and calculate:
a- Percentage of wet gluten in flour
b- Percentage of dry gluten in flour

Test for starch

Put some 5 ml of washing liquor in a test tube and gently heat it to the boil. Add
some drops of Lugol (iodine dissolved in aqueous potassium iodide solution). If
starch is present a deep bluish violet colour develops because of a complex
formed between starch and iodine. It is a very sensitive test so a faint colour
means almost no starch. The figure shows a negative test for starch (1) and a
positive one (2)