DISCUSS THE PERFORMANCE FEATURE OF FLOUR AND

THE CONTRIBUTION BREAD MAKES TO THE DIET

[25 MARKS]
Four can be made from any finely ground cereal e.g. Wheat, oats, barley, rye and maize. There are two parts to flour, the protein and the starch, the combination of these give two important characteristics to flour; Gelatinisation and the formation of gluten. Gelatinisation is the heating of starch granules within a liquid to thicken it. Starch is made up of many molecules of glucose meaning it is a polysaccharide. There are two types of molecule within Starch Amylose and Amylopectin the different amounts of these two molecules determines the type of starch they are in, for example corn flour has a high level of Amylose, meaning it has the ability to gelatinise quickly. Amylose molecules are long and straight, and cause sauces to thicken and turn cloudy when cooked, any starch that is being used for cooking will contain 17-28% Amylose. Amylopectin however is short and branched in a tree shape, Amylopectin produces a clear gel when it thickens and has the same thickness whether hot or cold. Other factors which will affect gelatinisation are the type of starch used, temperature and other ingredients used. There is a specific process which starch undertakes during gelatinisation. During gelatinisation a gel is made meaning that a large amount of liquid is held in a small amount of solid. This happens because when starch in the form of flour- is added to cold water it does not dissolve, but is suspended. As the mixture is slowly heated the starch granules begin to soften, this starts the process of gelatinisation. With further heating the granules absorb more water and begin to swell. As more water enters the granules the liquid begins to thicken. During this absorption of water the starch granules can swell to around five times their normal size. As the mixture reaches between 75 and 87oC the starch granules split open and amylose molecules seep from the starch grains. As the mixture starts to cool after boiling the molecules bond with each other and the branches of the amylopectin molecules, this along with the swollen starch grains form a near solid mass. The second characteristic of flour is the formation if gluten. This is specifically important in baked products and especially in bread making. Gluten is formed by the combination of two wheat proteins gliadin and glutenin however gluten is only formed after the addition of water. Gluten is stretchy and elastic, this means it can form a network within the dough that can trap gases such as carbon dioxide during cooking. When bread is made Gliadin and Glutenin are combined with water making Gluten, This creates a tangled mass of protein molecules. During the process of kneading, where the dough is stretched and folded, the gluten molecules are rearranged, this leaves a straight and untangled structure. This can be seen when the dough has a smooth and satin-like surface. Because this dough can stretch it

means it can trap the gases and steam produced in the rising and baking of bread in the structure. This structure later coagulates during the baking process to give a well risen loaf of bread. There are some factors which can affect the formation of gluten, e.g. if the flour is coated with fat before water is added, this means that the flour cannot absorb water, and not produce gluten. This means that the product becomes short which can be desirable in products such as pastries and biscuits. Also sugar can hinder the production of gluten, this is because it competes with the protein for water.