Scientists develop process-friendly dough
process-tolerant composite dough comprising of wheat and non-wheat
gluten mixtures.
The patented invention consists of mixing wheat flour, fat and water into a gluten mass formed into a sheet and adding this to a separately-prepared non-wheat mixture capable of performing as standard dough.
Non-wheat bread has traditionally proved difficult for bakers as no other flour can adequately mimic the process-tolerant properties of wheat and, in the past, rye and barley starch have been employed as substitutes but the resulting bread texture is weaker than in wheat varieties.
However, according to the patent, applied for by Nestec S.A, the invention allows for a crispy bread-type dough which combines the characteristics of non-wheat flour with the structural and procedural benefits of wheat and can be frozen without any loss of quality.
The patent states: "the consumer can benefit more largely from the nutritional, textural and other specific features of non-traditional non-wheat ingredients but in a well-structured dough product."
According to the team of Danish and Swiss inventors, non wheat flour such as maize, tapioca, rice, fruit and pulse can be used as well as plantain or chickpea flour.
A small amount of wheat is used in making the non-wheat dough purely to render it more elastic and flexible during baking.
