Effect of NaCl on heat-denatured wheat gluten in freeze-thaw cycles: Physicochemical properties and molecular structure

• DOI: 10.1016/j.lwt.2024.116669
• Publication Date: 2024-08-24T18:38:57Z
• Authors: Ying Liang; Zhihui Cao; Yangyi Jie; Kerui Su; Mei Liu; Hao Liu; Baoshan He; Jinshui Wang
• Keywords: Wheat gluten

Heat-denatured wheat gluten (HDWG) degradation during freeze-thaw (FT) cycling is a key factor in the quality deterioration of pre-cooked noodles (PCNs). This study investigated effects and underlying mechanisms sodium chloride (NaCl) on HDWG. Adding NaCl enhanced luminance PCNs reduced chromatic aberration. Scanning electron microscopy revealed that facilitated more continuous microstructure, resulting reduction average hole size HDWG from 84.44 μm to 56.59 after 10 FT cycles. With cycling, macropolymer (GMP) depolymerization occurs, causing collapse network structure. However, contributed formation β-sheet gauche-gauche-gauche (g-g-g) conformations, stronger three-dimensional structure HDWG, thus alleviating GMP depolymerization. The analysis intermolecular interactions shows primarily affects hydrogen bonds, disulfide hydrophobic interactions, stabilizes structural integrity by balancing these forces. altered composition influencing thereby fortifying against cycling. provides robust theoretical basis for using regulate thermally precooked flour products.