Functional properties of microwave-treated wheat gluten

In this study, the effects of microwave treatments on solubility, foaming and emulsifying properties of gluten were investigated. The solubility of microwave-heated gluten proteins gradually decreased as the treatment time increased, at all power levels applied. The highest solubility values were obtained for gluten samples microwave treated at 50% power level. The lowest emulsifying capacity values were obtained with the samples heated at 100% power level at all treatment times. The emulsifying stability values of microwave-heated gluten samples were found to be slightly higher than those of the control sample. However, there were no significant differences among the microwave power levels at all treatment times in terms of the emulsifying stability values. The foam volumes of the samples treated at 80 and 100% energy levels were slightly higher than those of the control gluten. The foam stability values of microwave-heated gluten samples gradually increased with treatment time at all power levels, which were more pronounced at 100% power level. Generally, microwave treatment did not cause major changes on the protein electrophoretic patterns of gluten samples at the power levels used.