Rheology and microstructure of wheat dough developed with controlled deformation

Undeveloped wheat dough samples were strained in shear and extensional flow between parallel plates to produce a controlled level of development. Dough made in a standard Farinograph, considered developed dough, was used for comparison. Scanning electron microscopy images of deformed dough were subjected to numerical image processing to characterize the protein matrix present. Results were compared to dynamic rheological properties to evaluate the influence of strain deformation on the formation of microstructure. Viscoelastic moduli of wheat dough showed that developed dough had the greatest amount of structure formation, followed by extensionally-strained and shear-strained samples, respectively. Undeveloped dough showed the lowest levels of structure development. Image analysis indicated statistically significant differences between protein matrices in developed and undeveloped samples, however, results were not significantly different between shear- and extensionally-strained samples.