Fundamental rheological and textural properties of doughs and breads produced from milled pearled barley flour

Barley has long been known as a good source of fibre and in particular beta-glucan, but increased consumer awareness has meant that this is only now being exploited by food scientists and the food industry. In this study, doughs and breads were produced using pearled barley flour (PBF) in different ratios (30, 50, 70 and 100%) to wheat flour. A 100% wheat flour formulation was used as a control. The flour formulations were evaluated for protein content; the dough rheological properties of the formulations were evaluated using fundamental oscillatory tests and uniaxial extension tests. The baked breads were evaluated for volume, texture, moisture, dietary fibre and beta-glucan. Digital image analysis of the crumb grain was also carried out. Protein analysis revealed that increasing the amount of PBF in the formulation leads to a significant (p < 0.001) decrease in the protein content of the formulation. Starch pasting properties were also affected by an increase in PBF concentration, with an increase in PBF significantly increasing the peak viscosity, breakdown, setback and final viscosity of the starch slurries of the formulations. Extensional rheology revealed that increasing the PBF in the doughs leads to the doughs rupturing at lower extensions and with a lower force. Bread volume between treatments was found to be significantly (p ≤ 0.001) different, with an increase in PBF inclusion leading to smaller loaves. Texture profile analysis of the bread slices showed that breads containing higher ratios of PBF had a significantly harder (p ≤ 0.001) and less cohesive (p ≤ 0.001) crumb. Low levels of PBF (≤50%) did not significantly effect loaf volume or crumb texture, however, and the total dietary fibre and beta-glucan levels of the loaves were significantly increased (p ≤ 0.001) with increasing levels of PBF in the formulation, even at low levels of inclusion.