PHYSICOCHEMICAL PROPERTIES OF GLUTEN FROM THREE TYPES OF WHEAT

Abstract

Gluten dispersed in 8% sodium salicylate and in lactic acid – sodium chloride solutions yielded intrinsic viscosity values in decreasing order, hard, soft, and durum wheats. Dispersions prepared under nitrogen yielded higher values than those prepared in air. Treatment of gluten with performic acid or with large excesses of sodium sulphite reduced the intrinsic viscosity of all glutens but the order of the values remained the same. Sedimentation coefficients were significantly reduced by the treatments, with the greatest reduction for gluten from durum wheat treated with performic acid. Sulphydryl group analysis gave the lowest value for gluten from hard wheat and the highest for that from durum. Results suggest that disulphide and sulphydryl groups are involved in determining physicochemical properties of gluten.No significant differences among the glutens from the three wheats were found in sedimentation coefficients, in distribution of such coefficients, or in amino acid composition, nor in the diffusion constants or molecular weights for the most soluble fraction from each.