Gluten as the most important factor in the baking qualities of wheat. What is gluten and why is it bad

The turn of the XX-XXI centuries is the time of food allergies. But if until recently, adults and children suffered from intolerance to chocolate, peanuts and citrus fruits, today they have been replaced by new horror stories - lactose and gluten (or gluten). The fight against gluten began in the West - American parents literally tear white bread out of children's hands, TV stars call on screens to give up wheat in the name of eternal youth and beauty, and fashionable chefs vying with each other offer new gluten-free masterpieces in restaurants. What is the unfortunate protein so guilty of, what does gluten contain, and is it possible to cope with an allergy to gluten?

What is gluten and where can you find it?

Gluten - what is it and what does it contain? Such a question to nutritionists and pediatricians is being asked more and more often today. Under the clever term, a group of complex proteins is hidden, which are contained in the grains of cereal plants. Gluten champions are wheat, rye and barley (popularly -).

In its pure form, gluten is an ordinary powder of an indistinct color, and if you fill it with water, you get sticky gray plasticine. It is this plasticine that every hostess remembers with a kind word, kneading the dough for pies or dumplings. Gluten gives wheat and rye dough a pleasant elasticity, allows you to fashion buns and kalachi of various shapes, makes store-bought bread and homemade buns soft and fresh.

But in the question "gluten, what is it - a natural product or a chemical additive?" There simply aren't any options. Wheat protein is a completely natural natural component obtained from the wheat kernel in the middle of the century before last in England. Today, the percentage of this substance in bread is an indicator of the quality of the product. Remember the most delicious bread you have ever eaten! Lush, porous, with a crispy crust ... Or store-bought rye, which lies quietly in the kitchen for a week and does not deteriorate. It's all gluten...

But not only in bread manufacturers generously pour gluten. Its nutritional value, plasticine properties and ability to bind vitamins and minerals have led to the fact that on almost every store shelf you will find products containing gluten: the table below will convincingly demonstrate this to you.

Forms of gluten intolerance

Yes, yes, we did not make a reservation - an allergy to bread protein has many faces. Understanding the problem with the harm of gluten, it is important to understand the difference between severe hereditary intolerance and heightened sensitivity of the body.

Today, scientists and nutritionists distinguish 3 different degrees of dislike of the human body for grain protein:

• celiac disease

This is a severe genetic autoimmune disease that is born with 0.5-1% of the population of a small blue planet (we are talking about Earth, if you didn’t guess). The peculiarity of the disease is that when the bread protein enters the intestines, immune cells seem to break loose and begin to attack the native organism as an enemy.

First, the villi of the small intestine suffer, the processes of assimilation and digestion of food are disturbed. Then the nervous system, bones and teeth, the liver, and the circulatory system get hit. Infertility, autism and schizophrenia are the terrible consequences of celiac disease. The disease can manifest itself at any age, the only way to treat it is to give up bread and sausage forever.

• Allergy to gluten.

This is just one of the variants of food allergies: the body refuses to digest bread protein and forms special antibodies in response. Salvation is a therapeutic diet and regular tests. Gluten allergy is not a death sentence, and children may well outgrow the harmful disease with age.

• Sensitivity to wheat and barley protein.

What is gluten and why it is harmful is easiest to explain if you just have a very sensitive body. Gluten, getting into the intestines, causes a slight inflammation. It disappears as soon as soft bread, savory buns or saving dumplings disappear from the diet. You can live with such a diagnosis to the fullest - you just need to reduce gluten pleasures or periodically follow a diet.

How to recognize your allergies?

The anti-gluten nightmare has swept half the planet today. In fashion magazines, health portals, websites for moms - everywhere you can read that gluten is a real poison. Not to mention that in many sources almost any gluten intolerance is called celiac disease.

In fact, pure genetic pathology accounts for only 20% of all celiac diseases. Most - 40% - is a classic allergy, the remaining cases are either a combination of celiac disease with an allergy, or hypersensitivity. So how do you know what your diagnosis is? And when can you start preparing for the fact that foods containing gluten are now forbidden delicacies?

The first bell that will tell about the rarest celiac disease is problems with the stool, and any. If you constantly experience diarrhea or constipation, take a closer look at how you feel. Signs of the disease - anemia, osteopenia, growth or developmental delay, weight loss, dermatitis, muscle weakness.

Typical symptoms will tell about allergies. If you are literally bent over from abdominal pain, practically do not leave the toilet, you are vomiting and, in addition, you have hives, urgently inspect your diet.

Tired of gas and diarrhea? Or maybe your head still hurts, hyperactivity or wild weakness woke up, muscles ache? Bread protein hypersensitivity starts like this.

It is possible to determine that the body does not accept bread gluten in a simple way. Remove from the menu for a couple of weeks all products where there is (or may be) gluten. If the symptoms have completely disappeared or smoothed out a little, urgently see an allergist for additional tests.

Gluten-free diet - pros and pitfalls

Gluten - benefit or harm, food poison or the secret of delicious baking? Not only doctors and patients argue about this, but also lovers of healthy eating. Athletes and actors, TV presenters and singers enthusiastically talk about gluten-free life. The legendary Oprah Winfrey (though not for us, but for the Americans) and the wife of the famous football player Victoria Beckham are the most ardent opponents of buns, sausages and mayonnaise.

Diet Benefits

Everyone who has excluded gluten from their menu assures out loud that the weight is significantly reduced, the skin becomes clear, and the eyes shine. Lightness throughout the body, cheerfulness, the desire to live and create - this is what a person gets by refusing hamburgers, fatty sauces and spaghetti. And nutritionists do not argue with this.

In a real therapeutic diet, along with gluten, bread and buns, fast food and cakes, sweet yogurts and sweets, fatty sausage and mayonnaise, canned food and pasta disappear from the diet - that is, the most harmful products for the liver, blood vessels and thin waist. All this fatty muck is replaced by vegetables and fruits, fish, nuts, healthy cheeses - well, how can you not lose weight and not enjoy life?

Diet cons

But there is danger in this diet. It's one thing when you deliberately refuse your grandmother's pie and mom's sandwich, and another thing when you can't have all these goodies for medical reasons. Patients with celiac disease on toast and dumplings will never get better - these dishes simply will not be digested. And the soul reaches out for cookies and waffles!

But pastries and sweets without gluten are many times more nutritious - in order to make up for the lack of glutinous protein and make the products tastier, the manufacturer is forced to put a maximum of sugar and fat there. So it turns out that gluten-free products are just as dangerous as with it ...

Allowed foods and gluten-free recipes

Nutritionists urge - no need to consider a gluten-free diet as another way to lose weight and cheer up. Such a diet is therapeutic, and only people with intolerance and allergies need to strictly observe it. But do not rush to put an end to your hedonistic dreams - it is quite possible to remain a gourmet and a happy person even without gluten in the diet. Meet, here are gluten-free products - the list is rather big:

• any fruits, berries, vegetables and root crops;
• eggs and butter of all types and grades;
• natural meat, poultry and fish;
• rice and maize;
• any spices and spices;
• nuts by weight (not in mixtures!);
• legumes (, beans);
• millet and;
• tapioca;
• sweet potato, etc.

Baking during a breadless diet is also not a dream, but a real reality, fragrant and sweet. The only advice is to use homemade recipes to be sure of the composition and calorie content of diet pies and cookies.

Cooking websites offer many flour-free recipes, and if you want pancakes or bread, gluten-free flour is available in supermarkets. Usually it is a mixture of rice, buckwheat, almond and other types of flour. And to prove how appetizing life without flour can be, here are a couple of recipes for you.

Omelet with herbs and cottage cheese

You will need:

300 grams of fresh (lettuce or herbs), a small bunch of green onions, 4, 400 grams, 1.5 cups of hard cheese, salt and spices to choose from.

We break the cottage cheese with a spoon so that there are no lumps left, add beaten eggs, cheese, chopped greens. We send it to the oven for 40 minutes, then we take it out, sprinkle or and again in the oven - for 15-20 minutes.

Chocolate cake without flour

You will need:

100 g of dark chocolate and butter, 150 g of sugar, half a glass of cocoa powder, 3 eggs.

Melt the chocolate in a water bath, then throw in the diced butter. When melted, remove from heat, add beaten eggs, sugar and cocoa. Sprinkle the form with cocoa or cover with parchment and put it in the oven for 35-50 minutes. The inside of the finished cake should be slightly moist!

Which enzymes help with gluten digestion problems?

A gluten-free diet is the obvious solution to gluten intolerance. But, firstly, in some products there are hidden sources of it, and secondly, at the intermediate stage of the transition from normal nutrition to a new diet, it is not always possible to completely abandon your favorite buns. And it can be difficult to refuse a colleague who brought you a piece of cake in honor of the defense of a diploma - and this happens from time to time.

In such cases, dipeptidyl peptidase IV (DPP-IV) preparations may be advised. It is one of the key enzymes involved in the process of protein digestion. It has been proven that the lower the content of DPP-IV in the intestinal lining, the more it is susceptible to various damages observed in people with gluten sensitivity. Unfortunately, such an assistant in the digestion of gluten is not very cheap: on iHerb, the price of the most inexpensive option (Gluten Digest from Now Foods) starts somewhere around $ 12, but even buyers respond with gratitude about it:

• A hyperactive child to whom a kinesiotherapist recommended a gluten-free diet could eat a bun in the kindergarten, which was immediately reflected in him. Now his mother calmly sends him to kindergarten, giving him a capsule of this drug in the morning.
• The woman was again able to eat buns, cakes and dumplings, which she lacked for happiness.
• An autistic child has been on a gluten-free diet for a year and a half. Not always parents can keep track, and his behavior changes: causeless laughter, crying in a dream, diarrhea in the morning. Using these capsules at the first sign of gluten ingestion solves the problem.

So these enzymes are a good alternative and help with the diet.

Gluten-free cosmetics - a new step towards beauty?

Popular dislike for the unfortunate gluten sometimes reaches the point of absurdity. It is not difficult to find out what gluten is, in what products it is contained and under what names it can be hidden. Gluten is often hidden under the cryptic names "textured vegetable protein" and "hydrolysed vegetable protein." But it's in the food. And there is gluten ... in powders, lipsticks and body lotions with vitamin E.

Therefore, today cosmetic giants are actively releasing supposedly hypoallergenic cosmetics. To all the assurances of scientists that protein can harm only if it enters the intestines, manufacturers prudently respond that anything can happen.

But if you do not intend to eat your lipstick from your lips in kilograms and taste the fragrant body cream, then you can safely use traditional, gluten-free, cosmetics.

Bread for a Russian person is not just a food product with harmful vegetable protein. This is part of the culture, a symbol of prosperity, health, family well-being. Indeed, even at the largest family feasts, among the plates with snacks and salads, there will definitely be a basket with ordinary sliced ​​\u200b\u200bbread, black or white. Bread is also the richest source of B vitamins.

Therefore, if you cannot imagine life without a morning toast with butter or a piece of Borodino for lunch, you do not need to deny yourself the pleasure of bread. And if a gluten-free diet is necessary for health reasons, be sure to contact a nutritionist to create the perfect menu together - both curative and appetizing.

Description of VITEN®

Dry wheat gluten(Gluten or SPC) trademark VITEN ® (Viten) manufactured by ROQUETTE (Rockett) is a natural ingredient, so there are no limits limiting its amount when used as a supplement. Dry wheat gluten traditionally used in the production of flour and bakery products. Moreover, the data of foreign publications and domestic studies show that dry gluten, compared to other protein products, has a wider range of functional properties, which creates opportunities for its diverse use. Wheat gluten is a protein obtained by wet extraction of non-protein components from wheat flour. Wheat gluten is characterized by the original property of acquiring high viscosity-elasticity when hydrated.

The quality of bakery products is determined by the quality of the main raw material - flour. Bakery enterprises in Russia annually process significant volumes (up to 60%) of flour with reduced baking properties, low gluten content, its unsatisfactory quality - weak or short-tearing gluten, reduced or increased activity of enzymes, and so on. One way to improve or adjust the quality of flour is to add dry wheat gluten (gluten).

Wheat gluten (gluten) has the following physical properties: high water absorption and viscoelasticity. Wheat gluten (WGC) quickly absorbs water that is twice its weight. Glutenin and gliadin, the two main protein components of wheat gluten, influence the viscoelastic properties in the presence of water. Glutenin, with a high molecular weight of its protein fraction, contributes to excellent elasticity, and gliadin, with a low molecular weight, gives excellent extensibility.

Application area

Uses

In flour milling, dry gluten is added to low-quality flour to obtain flour that meets the requirements of the standard. In European countries, adding gluten to weak flour is economical, as strong wheat is expensive and usually imported from the US and Canada.

In the EU countries, it is considered expedient to add European varieties of wheat to flour (the average content of dry protein in it is about 10%) from 1 to 2%. dry gluten. At the same time, the physical and rheological properties of the dough and the quality of bread are improved, and the baked bread is obtained in such a way that its quality corresponds to bread made from wheat varieties with a protein content of 14-15%.

Thus, the addition of gluten to flour ensures that the flour is obtained with the desired protein content and baking properties.

In Russia, the use of dry wheat gluten in bakery is also increasing. The use of gluten allows you to increase water absorption when kneading dough; strengthen the physical and rheological properties of the dough; improve the physico-chemical and organoleptic indicators of the quality of bread; increase the shelf life of finished products; improve the structural and mechanical properties of the crumb; increase the yield of finished products.

When developing special types of bread, dry gluten is used in an amount of up to 10% by weight of flour. The most widely used gluten is in the production of bakery products intended primarily for people with diabetes.

Wheat gluten additives of about 2% are produced abroad, used in the manufacture of bread products such as buns, hamburgers and others. The use of gluten increases the consumer properties of products, improves taste and makes them more attractive to the consumer.

The pasta industry makes special demands on the quality of raw materials. Typically, durum wheat and soft high-protein wheat are used for the production of pasta flour (grains and semi-grains). The use of gluten can expand the usability of conventional bread flour and improve the quality of pasta. So the addition of gluten to flour provides high strength to pasta, enhances resistance to destruction and increases their resistance to heat treatment.

5 to 50% dry gluten can be introduced into the composition of fillings for flour confectionery products. In this case, a filling with a moisture content of 5–20% is obtained, which makes it possible to preserve the crispy properties of the top layers of wafers or biscuits.

Dry wheat gluten it is also used for breading and glazing some food products, since the use of liquid and dry breading for fried products is associated with a number of difficulties, especially in the case of frozen products. Incorporating gluten into the topping mixes of these products greatly increases stickiness, reduces cooking losses, and improves appearance. When gluten is added to the batter, a film is formed that reduces liquid loss and contributes to the creation of a crispy tasty surface. Dry gluten is also used to glaze roasted nuts with salt and other seasonings.

The addition of 1 - 2% gluten in the manufacture of pizza improves the texture, reduces the penetration of moisture from the filling into the crust.

Another area of ​​application of gluten is the preparation of ready-to-eat breakfast cereals, which include wheat or oat bran, fat, dried fruits, nuts, vitamins, and mineral supplements. The introduction of gluten not only enriches them with protein, but also promotes the binding of vitamins and minerals.

Unique adhesive, cohesive and film-forming properties of hydrated native wheat gluten and its thermofunctional properties allow it to be used as additives in meat, fish and poultry products. Gluten is a very effective additive for binding pieces and trimmings of meat, from which steaks, cutlets are prepared, as well as for the manufacture of culinary rolls, canned ham.

Dry gluten used as an additive in an amount of 2 to 6% in meat and sausage mince and other meat emulsion products. Products containing gluten were superior in taste to products prepared using sodium caseinate, as well as products without protein additives. Hydrolyzed gluten subjected to extrusion can be used in the development of new food products - analogs of meat, crabs and even artificial caviar.

The viscoelastic properties of wheat gluten make it possible to use it in the manufacture of cheese analogues that have the texture and taste of natural cheese. Dry wheat gluten in combination with soy protein can be used to replace up to 30% of sodium caseinate in the manufacture of cheeses, and can also be used in an amount of 3–6% by weight of the mixture components in the production of processed cheeses.

wheat gluten used in the production of feed in fisheries, increasing their nutritional value. The adhesive properties of gluten provide the binding needed for food pellets and pellets, its insolubility in water reduces the destruction of pellets and pellets. The viscoelastic properties of gluten improve the chewing properties of the feed.

Protein products

Comparative characteristics

Properties of dry wheat gluten

SPECIFICATION

PROTEIN VALUE

Wheat gluten standard packaging

Storage:

Wheat protein price

The specified price is valid for purchases from 10 tons including VAT. The product is sold in small and large wholesale.

Wheat gluten is a substance that causes a lot of controversy today. What is it, what benefits does gluten have, for whom can it be harmful? Our article will tell about it.

What it is?

The term "gluten" (gluten) comes from the Latin word gluten, which means "glue". Contained in the grains of cereal plants, in its composition is a complex of proteins. For the first time this substance was isolated by Italian chemists in early 1728.

Today, on average, up to 40 g of gluten per day enters the human diet. It is mainly found in flour products and cereals based on cereals. Gluten can also be a component of many other foods. These are sausages, milk-containing products (yogurts, curds, cottage cheese, ice cream), canned food, sauces, semi-finished products, some juices, alcoholic beverages made from cereals (beer, vodka, whiskey).

In the modern food industry, gluten is extracted mainly from wheat flour. Gluten can be raw, in the form of a viscous liquid, or dry, in the form of a powder. It has no smell or taste when dry. It is mainly used to improve the quality of flour and its baking properties. And also as an additive in the above products.

Benefit

Wheat gluten is of great benefit to the human body.

• It contains essential amino acids, B vitamins, fat-soluble vitamins, calcium and phosphorus, which, in turn, leads to a strengthening of the body.
• Increases immune status.
• Strengthens the cardiovascular system, improves blood counts. Normalizes the level of hemoglobin.
• Accelerates the metabolism in the body.
• Increases the body's resistance to infectious diseases.
• Helps strengthen muscle and bone tissue.
• Normalizes gastrointestinal activity.
• Removes toxins from the body.
• Athletes and people involved in heavy physical work are shown to eat foods that contain gluten.

Harm

But despite the benefits of gluten, it can also have negative effects. There are people who, at the genetic level, cannot tolerate foods that contain gluten. This disease is called celiac disease (celiac disease).

The body perceives gluten as a foreign protein and begins to fight it. This is accompanied by disruption of the gastrointestinal tract, atrophy of the mucous membrane of the small intestine, and allergic reactions. As a result of the disease, metabolic processes in the body slow down. In addition, medical studies confirm that the use of gluten can cause diabetes, lead to overweight, provoke inflammation, nervous system disorders, etc.

As people age, the absorption of gluten can also decrease. When eating food with a high content of gluten in the intestines, enveloping the walls with this substance is observed. This leads to insufficient absorption of nutrients in the small intestine. Stagnant processes in the digestive organs and intoxication develop. Therefore, doctors recommend reducing the consumption of products containing gluten.

Millet contains a lot of fiber, vitamins A, B, D, E, amino acids needed by the body. Also, this cereal is rich in trace elements, but does not contain gluten. Therefore, this product is used for dietary purposes and is indicated for use by people with gluten intolerance.

Application in cooking

Adding gluten to yeast dough helps it rise better and makes homemade cakes look more appealing. In any dough, gluten improves viscosity, the finished product becomes more fluffy and does not settle after baking. The taste of the dish improves.

It can also be used as a thickener in the preparation of various sauces and pastes, such as tomato. For the same purpose, gluten is added to meat products (sausages, pates), canned fish and meat. In the dairy industry, gluten as an additive is used in the manufacture of yoghurts, curd masses, and so on.

Gluten is widely used in the confectionery industry. It is a component of cakes, pastries, muffins, various sweets, sweets and chocolate. Improves the palatability of the product and reduces the cost of the main ingredient.

For information on what gluten is, see the following video.

Among the various grain crops that give man food, wheat has long been of exceptionally great importance. Bread made from wheat flour has a porous, resilient and elastic crumb and is highly nutritious and has a pleasant taste. In many countries of the world, wheat bread is one of the main and most important food products of the population, and therefore the issues of increasing the yield of wheat and improving its quality do not cease to be the subject of numerous scientific studies.

The exceptional nutritional qualities of wheat grain largely depend on the content in it of a kind of protein substance called gluten. Since people learned how to make wheat bread, it has been known that when wheat flour is mixed with water, an elastic, cohesive and elastic dough is formed. However, only in 1728, the Italian scientist Beccari isolated from wheat dough by washing with water from starch and bran a cohesive, elastic and elastic mass of protein nature, called gluten. In 1745, Beccari published a report on his discovery (cited by Bailey, 1941), and some time later other works devoted to gluten began to appear, of which the detailed studies of the Russian academician Model, published by him in 1768 (cit. according to N. P. Kozmina, 1947). Over the past almost two centuries, an extensive literature has been devoted to the study of gluten, which is not surprising, given the great importance of gluten as the most valuable component of wheat grain, which largely determines its nutritional, technological and commercial advantages. As a result of these studies, it was firmly established that gluten is mainly a protein substance with a certain amount of non-protein impurities. Gluten proteins have a high ability to absorb water and swell, forming a hydrated elastic, elastic and cohesive jelly, which is called "raw gluten" or simply "gluten" in contrast to the "dry gluten" obtained by dehydrating this jelly most often by ordinary drying. The percentage difference between the weights of wet and dry gluten to the weight of dry gluten indicates the amount of water absorbed by the swelling of 100 grams of dry gluten and is referred to as the "hydration" or "hydration capacity" of the gluten.

What is the role and importance of gluten in the process of making bread? According to modern views, in the endosperm of wheat grain and in the flour obtained from it, gluten is in the form of slightly hydrated, i.e., practically dry particles located between starch grains and directly on their surface. When flour is mixed with water during dough preparation, individual gluten particles, swelling, stick together and form a continuous phase of hydrated protein, which, like a mesh, covers all starch grains, resulting in the formation of a compact, elastic mass of cohesive dough. Carbon dioxide released by the yeast during the fermentation of the dough loosens this mass, increasing its volume and giving it a finely porous structure, which is preserved due to the elastic properties of the swollen gluten, and then fixed during baking, forming the characteristic porous structure of the bread crumb. The physical properties of the dough - its elasticity, elasticity, extensibility, viscosity, determined to a large extent by the quantity and quality of wheat flour gluten, are of great importance in the bread production process. L. Ya. Auerman (1956) defines the widespread concept of “strength” of flour as “the ability of flour to form a dough that has certain physical properties after kneading and during fermentation and proofing.” Strong flour absorbs a relatively large amount of water during kneading, and the dough stably retains its normal consistency and elasticity during kneading and fermentation, retains carbon dioxide well and retains its shape, as a result of which the bread has a large volume, spreads little and is well loosened. In contrast, weak flour forms a dough that quickly deteriorates in physical properties during kneading and fermentation, resulting in reduced volume spreadable bread. Medium strength flour occupies an intermediate position between strong and weak flour. In a broader sense, they speak not only about the strength of flour, but also about the strength of wheat, characterizing this concept mainly as the ability of grain to serve as an "improver" in a mixture with grain that has insufficient baking qualities. Wheat that can be an improver is called "strong"; wheat that produces good bread but is not capable of serving as an improver is called "medium strength" wheat, and finally, wheat with low baking qualities that requires the addition of an improver is considered "weak". Although the concept of "strength" represents a summary characteristic of the baking properties of grain or flour, most researchers believe that "strength" is determined mainly by the state of the protein complex of wheat and, above all, depends on the quantity and quality of its gluten (Auerman, 1941, 1956; Kent- Jones and Amos, 1957; Kravtsova, 1959; Lyubarsky, 1961).

Let us briefly consider how each of these factors affects the baking qualities of wheat. The amount of gluten in the grain can vary over a very wide range. According to M. I. Knyaginichev (1958), the content of raw gluten in grain varies from 16 to 58%, and dry - from 5 to 28%. As mentioned above, gluten is mainly a protein substance, and therefore all those conditions that affect the accumulation of protein in wheat grain have a similar effect on the content of gluten in it. If wheat contains gluten of normal quality, then its amount is closely correlated with the content of total protein. N. P. Kozmina and V. N. Ilyin (1952), based on the analysis of 16 samples of wheat with normal quality gluten, express the ratio of the weight amounts of raw gluten and total protein in the grain with a value of 2.2. Although it is doubtful that this coefficient has a universal value for the whole variety of wheats, nevertheless it indicates a direct relationship between the content of gluten and protein in wheat of normal quality. The amount of protein and gluten in wheat grain depends on many factors (see, for example, M. I. Knyaginichev, 1951, 1955). This includes, first of all, the climatic and soil conditions for the growth of wheat, both natural and regulated by certain agrotechnical measures (irrigation, fertilization, crop rotation, etc.). Of no small importance is the wheat variety, although varietal differences are often smoothed out by growing conditions and therefore cannot always be identified with sufficient clarity. Let us give several examples illustrating fluctuations in the amount of gluten in wheat of normal quality (not defective) grown under different conditions. N. I. Dalenko and E. D. Kazakov (1956) reported that the content of raw gluten in the grain of seven different varieties of wheat in irrigated and non-irrigated areas of the Volga region ranged from 21.0 to 45.7%, and in flour - from 26. 6 to 58.6%. According to T. B. Darkanbaev (1956), the content of raw gluten in flour from 14 varieties of wheat of Kazakhstan ranged from 33.1 to 49.5%, and the content of dry gluten - from 10.00 to 16.77%. N. M. Sisakyan and L. S. Markosyan (1960) reported that flour from four varieties of Armenian wheat contained from 28.8 to 43.9% raw and from 10.05 to 17.68% dry gluten.

Extensive material on the content of raw gluten in the grain of wheat from the USA, Canada and some other foreign countries for 1951-1953. cited in an article by L. N. Lyubarsky (1954). The amount of raw gluten in different varieties of wheat fluctuated within the following limits (as a percentage).

The examples given are enough to appreciate the significant fluctuations that are observed in the gluten content in wheat grain and flour. For wheat with gluten of normal quality, there is a direct relationship between the protein content, and, consequently, gluten, in flour and its potential baking ability, i.e., the ability to produce good bread under the most favorable baking conditions for this flour (Kozmina, 1959). This circumstance was also reflected in the official "Rules for the organization and conduct of the technological process at mills" (1958), approved by the State Committee of the Council of Ministers of the USSR for bakery products in 1958. These "Rules" establish the lower limit for the mandatory content of raw gluten in each of the varieties of wheat flour produced in the Soviet Union.

If the baking ability of wheat depends on the content of gluten in it, then to an even greater extent it is determined by the quality of this gluten. The quality of gluten is usually understood as a combination of its physical properties: extensibility, elasticity, elasticity, viscosity, cohesion, as well as the ability to maintain the original physical properties during washing and subsequent resting. The quality of gluten is determined either organoleptically or by a variety of objective methods. The organoleptic definition of the quality of gluten, the most widely used in practice, is, of course, conditional and subjective, but at the same time it allows assessing gluten by the sum of all its properties, and this is its positive side. Determination of the quality of gluten using instruments: plastometer, consistometer, elastomer, penetrometer, extensograph, glutograph, neolaborograph, as well as by specific extensibility, by swelling number, by turbidity of lactic acid dispersions, by ball spreading, etc. is more objective, but, on the other hand, the indication of each device does not allow one to judge the totality of the properties of gluten - its extensibility, elasticity, viscosity, elasticity, tensile strength, etc. Therefore, in order to fully assess the quality of gluten, the indication of each device must be supplemented either by the readings of others devices (which is practically difficult to implement), or the organoleptic characteristics of gluten. As a result of quality assessment, gluten is assigned to one of the conditional groups. Auerman (1956) describes the following qualitative groups of gluten:

1. very weak
2. weak
3. medium in strength
4. strong,
5. very strong.

In practice, other designations for the quality of gluten are often used, for example, “strong”, “short-lived”, “crumbled”, “spongy”, etc. The quality of gluten in wheat grain and flour depends on many conditions and is an indicator that is much more variable than the quantitative content of gluten, although there is a close relationship between both of these indicators. In the following chapters, the influence of various factors on the quality of gluten will be considered in detail, and therefore it will suffice here to confine ourselves to a few general remarks. During the growth of wheat in the field, the quality of the gluten formed in the grain depends on the varietal characteristics and growing conditions. M. I. Knyaginichev (1951, 1958), L. A. Torzhinskaya and A. M. Kalyuzhnaya (1958), N. V. Romensky, G. O. Barer and A. M. Kalyuzhnaya P958) and other authors give a large experimental material, on the basis of which it can be concluded that when grown under the same conditions, wheat varieties differ markedly in the quality of their gluten. However, the climatic and soil conditions of wheat growth still have the greatest influence on the quality of gluten (MI Knyaginichev, 1951, 1958). Depending on the year of harvest and growing area, as well as the use of various agricultural techniques, fertilizers, irrigation, etc., wheat of the same variety can have gluten of sharply different qualities. If we compare gluten from wheat of different varieties grown in different years and in different regions, then the observed fluctuations in its quality indicators will be even greater. For example, in the work of T. B. Darkanbaev and G. A. Kaptyushina (1960) it was shown that for various varieties of wheat grown at the experimental stations of Kazakhstan in 1953-1956, the gluten expiration time on the plastometer ranged from 53 seconds to 10 minutes , and the solubility of gluten in lactic acid ranged from 14.2 to 439% of the total nitrogen of raw gluten. Very large differences in the physical properties of gluten were also noted by L. A. Torzhinskaya and A. M. Kalyuzhnaya (1958) and N. V. Romensky, G. O. Barer and A. M. Kalyuzhnaya (1958) for the wheat of Ukraine, as well as N. M. Sissakyan and L. S. Makosyak (1960) for Armenian wheat.

Unfavorable growing conditions often lead to the production of gluten, defective in quality. Such, for example, is the gluten of wheat, captured during ripening by autumn frosts or damaged by a tortoise bug. After harvesting, the quality of gluten in the grain does not remain constant, but can change quite significantly depending on the conditions of storage and grain processing. Even the natural process of post-harvest ripening of dry wheat somewhat changes the quality of its gluten. If the grain is stored at high humidity, then the developing process of self-heating of the grain mass very sharply changes the quality of the gluten. Thermal drying also has a no less stronger effect on gluten, the wrong modes of which can not only worsen the physical properties of gluten, but also completely destroy it. Preparation of grain for grinding - cold and hot conditioning - as well as the process of grinding itself also have a certain effect on the physical properties of gluten. Its quality does not remain unchanged during the storage of finished flour, especially under unfavorable storage conditions leading to rancidity and spoilage of flour. Thus, starting from the formation in the grain ripening in the field and until the moment the flour arrives at the bakery, wheat gluten, depending on many factors and conditions for handling grain and flour, can undergo very noticeable changes in its physical properties, the totality of which determines its quality. The quality of gluten is of decisive importance for the baking qualities of flour, since the physical properties of the dough, which determine the strength of flour, depend mainly on the physical properties of gluten and, to a lesser extent, on its quantitative content. This position is confirmed by all researchers who compared the baking qualities of flour with the content of gluten in it and its physical properties. Extensive material on this issue is presented, for example, in the work of N. S. Suvorov (1955), who, using 329 samples of commercial flour, compared the results of baking tests of flour with the content of raw gluten in it and its quality, determined by specific extensibility and based on plastometer readings. . The author came to the conclusion that the decisive factor is the quality of gluten, and not its quantity. However, it must be emphasized that when considering separately the two most important factors of flour strength - the quality and quantity of gluten - it should always be borne in mind that in fact both of these factors act not only in close interconnection, but also depending on other flour components that also have certain influence on its baking qualities. The close relationship between the quality of gluten and its quantitative content in wheat becomes especially clear if we recall that the content of raw gluten is determined by washing it, and the amount of dry gluten is determined by drying the washed jelly. Thus, any change in the quality of gluten that affects the hydration capacity of its proteins immediately affects the yield of wet and dry gluten, even if the protein content is completely constant, determined by conventional analytical methods. This is most pronounced in wheat that has been damaged by a turtle bug or subjected to severe overheating as a result of improper drying. In both cases, with a normal protein content in the grain, gluten may be completely absent as a result of such changes in its physico-chemical properties that make it impossible to form a hydrated raw gluten jelly.

Based on the foregoing, it is obvious that the great importance that belongs to gluten as the most important factor in the baking qualities of wheat. Naturally, the efforts of many researchers over a long period of time have been devoted to the study of gluten in various directions.

The chemical composition and physical properties of gluten, the changes that occur in it under various influences, the conditions for its formation in ripening grain and decay during germination, the possibility and methods of improving the quality of normal and correcting defective gluten, the behavior of gluten under various modes of storage and processing of wheat, processes , occurring with gluten during dough science and baking bread, and many other issues of both theoretical and applied nature.

Physical properties

Moistened with water, raw gluten has a grayish color and appears as a solid mass, sticky, elastic, flexible; when dry, it is translucent and tasteless.

Chemical properties

• carbon 52.6%
• hydrogen 7.0%
• nitrogen 16.0%
• oxygen with traces of sulfur 24.4%

Application

Gluten in the form of gluten is of great importance in the baking industry, its content in flour is a factor that determines such dough characteristics as elasticity and elasticity when mixed with water, and serves as one of the criteria for determining the quality of flour.

Side effect

Celiac disease, a genetically predisposed intolerance to foods containing gluten, is a form of enteropathy that affects the small intestine in children and adults. According to a February 2005 report by the World Gastroenterological Organization (GOG-OMGE), the prevalence of celiac disease in healthy adults ranges between about 1 in 100 and 1 in 300 in most parts of the world. Patients with celiac disease should not eat wheat, rye or barley in any form. In adults, celiac disease is diagnosed on average 10 years after the onset of the first symptoms of the disease. Patients with active (clinical) celiac disease have an increased risk of death compared with the general population. However, this increased risk of death returns to normal after three to five years of strict adherence to a gluten-free diet.

Notes

see also

Links

• // Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron: In 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - St. Petersburg. , 1890-1907.

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See what "Gluten" is in other dictionaries:

Gluten Dictionary of Russian synonyms. gluten noun, number of synonyms: 1 gluten (2) ASIS Synonym Dictionary. V.N. Trishin. 2013 ... Synonym dictionary

The protein part of wheat flour that remains in the form of an elastic clot after the starch is washed out of the dough with water. Dictionary of culinary terms. 2012 ... Culinary Dictionary

Modern Encyclopedia

The protein part of wheat flour that remains in the form of an elastic clot after the starch is washed out of the dough with water. The gluten storage proteins gliadin and glutenin are found in the endosperm of the wheat grain; depends on their content and properties ... ... Big Encyclopedic Dictionary

GLUTEN, the main protein substance present in wheat flour, is gray in color and elastic in degree of density. Absent in barley, oats and corn. Increases the elasticity of the dough. Insoluble in water. Can be removed from flour. How… … Scientific and technical encyclopedic dictionary

GLUTEN, gluten, pl. no, female (biol.). One of the protein substances, which is part of grain bread, is the most nutritious and makes it possible to make dough from flour. Explanatory Dictionary of Ushakov. D.N. Ushakov. 1935 1940 ... Explanatory Dictionary of Ushakov

GLUTEN, s, wives. A protein found in wheat grains. | adj. gluten, oh, oh. Explanatory dictionary of Ozhegov. S.I. Ozhegov, N.Yu. Shvedova. 1949 1992 ... Explanatory dictionary of Ozhegov

The mass remaining during the preparation of wheat starch. Dictionary of foreign words included in the Russian language. Chudinov A.N., 1910 ... Dictionary of foreign words of the Russian language

gluten- The main nutritious part of grains Biotechnology topics EN gluten … Technical Translator's Handbook

Gluten- GLUTEN, the protein part of flour (from wheat grains and other cereals), remaining in the form of an elastic clot after the starch is washed out of the dough with water. The storage proteins that make up gluten (prolamins and glutelins) are found in the nutritional tissue ... ... Illustrated Encyclopedic Dictionary