Measuring gluten aggregation properties: a fast and reliable response to evolving demands

Over the years, several tests have been developed for evaluating wheat functionality and predicting product quality. Time, sample size, and reliability play a key role in the choice of the rheological test to be used. In this frame, the development of small-scale rapid methods for predicting wheat performance is of great interest for breeders and millers. The GlutoPeak is a high shear based technique recently proposed for the evaluation of wheat quality measuring the aggregation behavior of gluten upon addition of water and high-speed mixing. The test is rapid (<5 min) and it requires less than 10 g of sample, and it provides two main attributes of gluten quality: (i) torque that is an indication of strength of gluten; (ii) time to peak that is an indication of kinetics of gluten aggregation. This presentation will provide an overview of the strengths of this new test and its potential application along the wheat value chain. Various case studies on the use of this test for the characterization of wheat flour will be presented, to fill the knowledge gap between gluten composition, its aggregation kinetics, and flour performance. Results will highlight: (i) why flours with similar protein content and dough rheology have different bread-making performance; (ii) the contribution of protein fractions to gluten aggregation; (iii) the correlation between the GlutoPeak indices and many of the conventional parameters which are currently used for flour characterization; (iv) the relation between gluten aggregation properties of wholegrain flour and refined flour. Finally, the potential weakness of the test will be also addressed.