Intact and Damaged Wheat Starch and Amylase Functionality During Multilayered Fermented Pastry Making

Area of Science:

• Food Science
• Material Science

Background:

• Intact and damaged starch (DS) play crucial roles in fermented pastry production.
• Understanding starch functionality is key to optimizing pastry quality and production efficiency.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the effects of native and damaged starch (DS) on fermented pastry characteristics.
• To determine the influence of amylase on dough properties and final pastry structure.

Main Methods:

• Wheat flour DS levels were increased via ball-milling and amylase was incorporated.
• Dough strength, gas cell expansion resistance, and crumb structure were evaluated.
• Differential scanning calorimetry and 1H nuclear magnetic resonance were used to analyze starch networks and retrogradation.

Main Results:

• Increased DS enhanced laminated dough strength by reducing water availability for gluten.
• Amylase partially counteracted the strengthening effect of DS and improved pastry lift and crumb by facilitating enzymatic starch hydrolysis.
• Gluten significantly contributed to pastry structure, limiting collapse even with high amylase levels.
• Starch damage and amylase affected the amylose network, increasing and decreasing amylopectin retrogradation during storage, respectively.

Conclusions:

• Knowledge of starch functionality in pastry production allows for targeted additive selection.
• Findings can guide the development of industrially viable solutions for high-quality pastry products.