Health related report on: Effect of chemical raising agents on cornflour

Concept: The effect of chemical raising agents on cornflour.

INTRODUCTION

Gluten is a composite produced from diverse proteins. It is found most frequently in wheat and other correlated grains, such as barley and rye. It adds a characteristic chewiness and to baked goods, this ingredient is used in other foods as a binder and thickener, protein supplement and flavour enhancer (Vaclavik & Christian 2008). There are two components of gluten which are glutenin and gliadin. Glutenin is the key protein found in wheat flour. It is accountable for the strength and extensibility of dough. Gliadin is a glycoprotein present in wheat and numerous other cereals. It is liable for giving elasticity to the dough (Vaclavik & Christian 2008 ). Corn is naturally gluten free, thus corn flour doesn’t have the glue-like quality of wheat flour, so you typically add a binder such as eggs to corn flour dough to keep it intact when baking (Barlowe, 2011). Another component of flour is starch which is mainly found in the endosperm. Starch is a carbohydrate comprising of a large number of glucose units connected by glycosidic bonds (Vaclavik & Christian 2008). It is the most recurrent carbohydrate in the human diet and is found in big amounts in staple foods such as wheat, potatoes, rice etc. When the starch is exposed to heat and water then the intermolecular bond breaks down in a process called gelatinisation. There are some factors that influence the quality of the flour when it is going under baking such as, baking powder and fat. Baking powder is a chemical raising agent used to boost the volume and lighten the texture of baked supplies such as muffins, scones etc. It works by releasing carbon dioxide gas into a batter or dough through an acid-base reaction, causing bubbles in the wet mixture to expand and thus leavening the mixture. Most commercially available baking powders are made up of an alkaline component (typically sodium bicarbonate, also known as baking soda), one or more acid salts (like Tartaric Acid), and an inert starch (such as corn starch). It is of two types, both a combination of an acid and alkali, when in presence of moisture and heat produce gas. The alkali base for both types is generally bicarbonate of soda. The two types are single acting and double acting baking powder. The former can be made at home and is cheap whereas the latter is more efficient (Campbell, et al 1980). Another factor is fat. The importance of fat is that it increases the volume by lubricating gluten strands but too much can tenderise and shortens the gluten strands. It keeps the crust tender, the crumb soft and moist, makes the keeping quality less hardening and also gives a better colour (Campbell, et al 1980).

The experiment was performed, in experiment A, 100% pure corn flour was used to make scones whereas in experiment B, 50% corn flour and 50% wheat flour was taken. In experiment A, there is no gluten potential in corn flour therefore scones will be very white, low volume with a fine texture and very dense, whereas in experiment B, there is potential for gluten development because of wheat flour therefore they will be more chewier and have an enhanced flavour.

TERMS AND DEFINITIONS

GLUTEN

 Glutens are the chief storage proteins of wheat and are comprised of about 100 diverse proteins in a given wheat variety (Samaroo et al., 2010).

GLIADIN

Gliadins are the key components of wheat storage proteins that establish the property of extensibility of dough (Wang et al., 2012).

GLUTENIN

The glutenin fraction of wheat storage proteins consists of large polymers in which low- and high-molecular-weight subunits are linked by interchain disulfide bonds (Lombardi et al., 2012). It is responsible for providing strength and extensibility to dough.

BAKING POWDER

Baking Powder is a raising agent that consists of a mixture of baking soda, cream of tartar, and a moisture absorber (like cornstarch) (“All About Baking Powder”,2008).

SCONES

A Scone was initially a round flat cake, prepared with butter milk, fine white flour and a raising agent. It was cooked on a griddle and was sliced into triangular quarters for serving. It afterwards developed into today’s individual round oven-baked cake (“History of Scones and Griddle Cakes”, 2008).

GELATINIZATION

Gelatinisation is the process in which starch granules form a suspension in cold water. These granules swell and thicken when heated in the presence of water, and a gel results. The cellulose wall of the starch ruptures when swollen granules bump into each other and water is absorbed (Campbell, et al 1980).

Aim: The Aim of the experiment is to determine the effect of chemical raising agents on the height and texture of corn flour.

Method:  Refer to week 7 chemical raising agent and flour mixtures manual page15 for experiments 8 (100% corn flour).

Results: The effect of chemical raising agent on the height of 100% corn flour and 50% corn flour+50% wheat flour.

 DISCUSSIONS

Gluten is accountable for the elasticity of the dough, which is apparent as chewiness. It does not directly lead to rising – the leavening agent (yeast, baking powder, etc.) is liable for that. Baking powder is a chemical leavening agent used in preparation of scones,that causes batters to rise when baked.  This leavener enlarges the bubbles which are already present in the batter produced through creaming of ingredients. Baking powder consists of baking soda, one or more acid salts (cream of tartar and sodium aluminium sulphate) plus cornstarch to absorb any moisture so a reaction does not take place until a liquid is added to the batter.
It forms a protein network by cross-linking, which not only results in the elasticity but also traps gas and prevents it from absconding during the baking process. The “rising” in baked goods is basically just stretching of the gluten network.

In experiment A, the external texture of the scones is dense, hard and the dough of the scones has not risen appropriately, the internal texture is rigid and difficult to chew because of the absence of gluten. In case of experiment B, the external texture is soft, elastic and the dough of the scones has risen properly, the internal texture is chewy and soft. Also, in experiment B, the taste of scones is enhanced because of the presence of gluten.

IMPLICATIONS

Baking powder is a dry chemical leavening agent used to amplify the volume and lighten the texture of baked goods such as muffins, cakes, scones and American-style biscuits. It is used in place of yeast for end-products where fermentation flavours would be detrimentalor where the batter lacks the elastic structure to hold gas bubbles for more than a few minutes. Moisture and heat can lead to loss of effectiveness of baking powder over time. One can use baking soda and cream of tartar as an alternative of baking powder but it will alter the taste of the end product. Glucose oxidase from Aspergillus niger can also be used as a chemical raising agent in the food industry (Wong, C.M. et al., 2008). Corn flour has the highest concentration of starch, so is the most effective thickener of all flour based products, thus it helps in binding the dough together and keep it sturdy. For example corn flour is important with other component for softening and tendering bakery products such as sponge cake, biscuits etc. stickiness of the dough increased markedly when the moisture content was increased by adding gum Arabic (Narasimha, H.V. et al., 2007). Corn flour along with flaxseed, soy and showed noteworthy effects on the cohesiveness, hardness, gumminess, springiness, stiffness values (P < 0.05) and fracture force (Hayta, M. t al., 2006).

PROBLEMS IN THE EXPERIMENT DESIGN

• A gram of corn flour in experiment A and corn flour + wheat flour should be used instead of 1 cup.
• Semi-skimmed cow milk is recommended for baking scones.
• Instead of butter, olive oil can be used which will add extra flavour to scones.
• Measure your flour with a scale or by scooping it out of the bag and into a dry measuring cup with a spoon. Do not pour your flour into the measuring cup or they will become dense.
• Over mixing of the dough must be avoided (not more than 10 strokes) as too much stirring will toughen your scones.
• Keep the scones as cold as possible until they are ready to go into the oven. This will make them rise better.
• Make sure your oven is fully preheated before baking the scones.

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