Modeling the mixing power curve to assess bread dough rheological behavior

Abstract

A procedure to assess dough behaviour at mixing is established and its results are correlated with flour specifications and results from empirical rheological tests. A total of 36 wheat flours obtained from two types of cultivations, conventional (C) or sustainable (S), were used in this work. They were processed on a lab-scale spiral mixer under same kinematics and hydration conditions. The power supplied by the mixer along time, P(t), was recorded. The resulting time-series were treated in two ways: (1) nine parameters were directly derived from the data and (2) a four-parameters Gauss model was used to fit the data (R2mean = 0.97), including the standard deviation (SD). The Gauss model parameters better explained the variability of the mixing curves of the flours. Furthermore, PLS modelling of SD evidenced two clusters in relation to the extensibility capacities of the dough (P/L from the Chopin alveograph), hence providing information on the tolerance of the flour to mixing. These results enhanced the contribution of dough extensional properties during mixing and open prospect to improve the assessment of its rheological behavior during processing by a simple mixing test.