Fractionation and reconstitution of whole wheat flour and its effect on dough and chapatti quality

Fractionation and reconstitution techniques were utilized to study the contribution of flour fractions mainly gluten in chapatti dough rheology and baking performance of chapatti. Micro-scale rheological methods and micro scale baking test on the basis of 10 g flour were used. Two Indian wheat cultivars (NIAW-301 and NIAW-34) were studied. Fractionation which involved defatting of flour, isolation of gluten, collection of aqueous suspension and separation into a soluble fraction and two starch fractions (upper and lower layer) by centrifugation. Reconstitution of the flour given reproducible results. Spreadability of the dough prepared from reconstituted dough was poor and decreased by 23.7 %. Addition of gluten to the dough resulted into decreased spreadability and increased dough resistance. Chapattis was prepared from fractionated flour showed poor baking performance. Addition of extra gluten to the flour resulted into good, pliable and soft textured chapatti.