Effect of composition of gluten proteins and dough rheological properties on the cookie-making quality

Purpose - The purpose of the paper is to study the effect of the gliadin and glutenin fractions of gluten on the cookie quality. Design/methodology/approach - Ten different wheat varieties were analyzed for the flour physicochemical characteristics, gluten composition and rheological properties. The different flours were baked into cookies. The cookies were analyzed for spread ratio and texture. Relationships of various flour parameters, gluten composition and cookie characteristics were determined. Findings - Gluten subfractions, damaged starch, protein, AWRC values were significantly correlated to the cookie spread and texture. Damaged starch (r = -0.638), protein (r = -0.508) and AWRC (r = -0.844) had a negative relationship with the cookie spread. The flours with higher SDS sedimentation value also produced cookies with lower spread ratio and harder texture. The study clearly demonstrated a positive correlation between Gli:Glu ratio (r = 0.765) and spread ratio and a negative correlation (r = -0.528) with hardness of the cookies measured in terms of breaking force. Flours with lower dough development time and dough stability performed better as cookie flours. Originality/value - The gliadins and Gli/Glu ratio had a significant effect on the cookie spread and texture and the prediction equation developed during the study could accurately predict the cookie spread from the Gli/Glu ratio and AWRC values.