Small and large deformation rheology for hard wheat flour dough as influenced by mixing and resting

The effects of mixing and resting on the physiochemical properties of doughs prepared with strong and weak hard wheat flours were investigated, specifically concerning aspects related to their rheological behavior and molecular mobility. Small deformation dynamic tests showed that, during the initial resting period the complex modulus G* decreased and phase angle decreased for undermixed dough, whereas overmixed dough showed opposite trends. G* values for optimally mixed dough did not vary during the resting period investigated. This was more obvious for the strong dough. Large deformation tests more clearly showed differences among optimal under- and overmixed dough, and also between doughs prepared with strong and weak flour. Optimally mixed dough exhibited the highest peak stress and strain for both samples. In addition, the peak stress of dough prepared with the strong flour was higher than that of dough prepared with weak flour. Inconsistent results between small and large deformation tests implied that small and large deformation tests reflected different structural aspects of dough. NMR measurements were performed to estimate the relaxation properties of the sample upon resting. Decreased water mobility during resting, indicated by decreasing, T relaxation time, was possibly attributed to increasing molecular interactions caused by continued hydration. Evidence of additional molecular interactions created by mixing was also observed.