A Study on the Relationship Between Rheological Properties of Wheat Flour, Gluten Structure, and Dumpling Wrapper Quality

Fifty different kinds of wheat from 10 provinces in China were chosen as samples to be milled into flour. Dumpling wrappers were made from the flour and their texture qualities and rheological properties, disulfide content, sulfhydryl content, and gluten secondary structure were determined. The web structure formed by the gluten was observed under scanning electron microscopy. These results showed that the flour’s rheological properties, apart from extensibility, were significantly correlated with several aspects of the texture of the dumpling wrapper, and the degree of softening showed negative correlations, most closely with the texture quality of the dumpling wrapper. Disulfide played an important role in forming the gluten web, its content showing significant correlations with the rheological properties of the flour and the texture quality of the dumpling wrapper. The disulfide content in gluten was positively correlated with the hardness and quality of the cooked product; the sulfhydryl content showed no significant correlations with the rheological properties of the flour and the texture of the dumpling wrapper. The gluten secondary structure showed some correlation with the rheological properties of the dough, but little with the texture quality of the dumpling wrapper. Under observation by scanning electron microscopy, the weak structure was loose with large interspaces, while the strong structure was compact with few interspaces.