Characterization of flours treated by high isostatic pressure (HIP) for application in gluten-free breads

Abstract

The rising demand for gluten-free products has led the baking industry to search for alternative ways to face the technological challenge of forming a viscoelastic dough similar to conventional breads, and overcome barriers during shelf-life, where the staling phenomenon occurs rapidly due to the absence of gluten and high levels of starch. Given this framework, the objective of this study is to analyze the effects of processing a gluten-free flour mix (41% of rice flour, 49% of modified cassava starch and 10% of acidified egg albumin powder) with high isostatic pressure (HIP), in order to improve its application in gluten-free breads. First, the raw materials and the flour mix will be characterized by determining their proximate composition, particle size, instrumental color, pasting properties in a Rapid Visco Analyser (RVA) and microscopic structure through Scanning Electronic Microscopy (SEM). After that, the flour mix will be exposed to a high pressure treatment following a 2³ Central Composite Rotatable Design (CCRD), varying pressure from 200 to 600 MPa, temperature from 20 to 40°C, and time from 5 to 10 minutes. Finally, the samples will be subjected to technological analyses (instrumental color, pasting properties and SEM), in order to verify changes and possible improvements for application in gluten-free breads. (AU)