Safe use of Wheat Flour by Knowing Gluten Content

Abstract

There is greater demand for fast food in the form of noodles, pasta, pizza, bread, etc. in younger generation. Wheat is a staple food of many Indians. Wheat flour is the main ingredient of fast food products. The main contents of wheat are proteins and carbohydrates. Gluten is the protein part of wheat flour which gives elasticity and strength to dough. Wheat with high gluten content is preferred by many food industries however gluten is responsible for digestive discomfort and also found to be allergic, under such circumstances it is necessary for us to select wheat with less percentage of gluten for consumption. Hence in present study wheat flour gluten was analysed and the quantification of gluten was done by calculating wet gluten, dry gluten. The gluten index is also studied by using biochemical test (Folin-Lowry method). In all six local varieties of wheat were analyzed for gluten content, and out of them many showed high gluten content. Present study gives an idea to select the variety of wheat to be used for consumption.