Whey Protein Improves Gluten-Free Bread

WAGENINGEN, The NetherlandsResearchers at Wageningen University have discovered a novel method for making gluten-free bread using mesoscopically structured whey protein. The result is a light and fluffy gluten-free bread with a crispy crust that looks similar to real bread, according to new research published ahead of print in the Journal of Cereal Science.

The use of the meso-structured protein is based on the hypothesis that the gluten structure present in a developed wheat dough features a particle structure on a mesoscopic length scale (100 nm to 100 μm). Whey protein particles were prepared by cold gelation of soluble whey protein aggregates during phase separation. The addition of a 2.4% whey protein particle suspension to wheat starch resulted in a dough that could be baked into a leavened bread with a specific volume up to 3.7 ml/g and a bubble size comparable with a normal bread. The relevance for structuring the whey protein into mesoscopic particles was confirmed by tests in which only a homogeneous whey protein gel or a whey protein solution was used. The protein particle system gave better results after proving and baking compared with these systems.