Behavior of wheat flour dough at different pretreated temperatures through rheological characteristics and molecular interactions of proteins

Rheological properties and chemical interactions of doughs prepared at different temperatures were evaluated. The results showed that the rigidity of pretreated doughs was enhanced, and the processing performance of doughs was weakened. Preheating resulted in the polymerization of gluten through the conversion of sulfhydryl groups to disulfide bonds. The noncovalent interaction of dough played a dominant role and further led to the production of glutenin macropolymers (55.77 mg/g). CLSM images verified that preheating promoted the formation of the coarse and scattered gluten network, while preheating at 80 °C led to a higher gluten area percentage (40.27 %) and lower lacunarity (6.74 × 10^-2) structure. The migration of water promoted changes in hydrogen bond and hydrophobic interaction in doughs, which directly affect the processability of doughs. The study provides information for predicting the rheological behavior of dough in actual production and makes it possible to modify gluten by preheating treatment without complicating existing operations.