Effects of transglutaminase on the rheological and noodle-making characteristics of oat dough containing vital wheat gluten or egg albumin

Incorporating exogenous proteins into food production is a common practice for improving processing characteristics. In the present study, oat dough containing 15% (w/w, blends of protein-oat flour basis [POB]) vital wheat gluten (VWG) or 15% (w/w, POB) egg albumin (EA) was used to produce noodles with or without gluten (i.e., gluten-free). The rheological and noodle-making characteristics of oat dough containing exogenous proteins and the effects of added transglutaminase (TGase) were examined. The results indicate that the extent of TGase's modification of the thermomechanical and dynamic rheological characteristics (G' and G) is dependent on the source of exogenous proteins in the oat dough. By adding 1.0% (w/w, POB) TGase, the cooking qualities of the resulting noodles (i.e., those containing VWG and EA) were significantly elevated with lower cooking loss; the elasticity of both types of noodles increased. The effects of TGase in different dough systems were analyzed by SDS-PAGE. In oat dough prepared with VWG, TGase was shown to catalyse the cross-linking of both oat protein and gluten protein; however, oat protein acted as the only substrate of TGase in the noodles that had been prepared with EA. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.