ONPS Rheology and Food Biophysics Individual Assignment Rheology is a key component of quality control in food manufacture. With this in mind, this assignment asks students to focus on the rheological...

Rheology and Food Biophysics Report
Executive summary:
This report is aimed at edifying key components in the rheology of gluten daily bread and gluten biscuits. It further aims to explore the factors that affect the quality of the final products, and how important the initial ingredients are in ensuring the same. What some of the issues faced in the process of manufacturing, and recommendations that can help manufacturers produce efficiently and consistently.
Introduction:
One might have tried bread and biscuit making at home, or heard at bakeries or even large manufacturers complain “the dough is too tough” or “the dough has too much pan flow” or “let’s decrease water, the dough is too sticky”. How does it even matter? As long as the dough is made and has the ingredients needed, how does it affect the process and final product? According to Bakerpedia, every baker wishes to maintain quality and produce the freshest and best dough in their capacity. This is because the biggest and most important aspect of baked goods lies in the handling and curing of the dough which creates the essential properties that finally bring out the desired taste and texture (Weaver G. (1994). In today’s world, over 1.4% of the population is affected by coeliac disease, whereby their body is incapable of accepting the proteins found in glutenous foods. Or for health and fitness reasons many people are adapting to the “gluten-free diet” which has made it a task to find alternatives that have the exact same flavour and texture (Lingan1996). However, the original flavour of bread and biscuits as well as the texture lies in the quality and the proteins found in wheat, barley and rye (gluten grains).The reasons for this have been further analyzed and discussed in this report.
Properties of ingredients and dough
When dough is prepared, in order for it to pertain to the correct recipe and getting the desired output, the quantity of the ingredients and mixing process must be ideal. It is directly proportional to the quantity one desired to produce (Lingan1996). It is crucial to grasp the concept of dough making and handling in order to be aware of how it affects the finished products. There are four major properties of dough that determine the rheology which include.
a. Elasticity:
It is the ability provided to the dough to be amenable and come back to its original form and shape when force is applied and released. In other words, it is the dough’s capacity to bounce back upon stretching and kneading.
b. Stretchability/extensibility:
It is the property which allows the dough to be stretched, elongated and pulled when force is applied to it. It is necessary for shaping the dough into desired shapes as it allows expansion when the dough is rising due to the yeast releasing gas during the fermentation process.
c. Tenacity:
It is the ability the dough has to in order to not get deformed when being expanded, or stretched at any point. If a batch of dough is too tenacious in nature, it makes it extremely difficult to work with as it keeps bouncing back to its shape even when a lot of force is applied. It is said that the after baked goods of such dough are more on the crispy and flaky side instead and easily fall apart. Too much fat content can make this happen to the dough (Weaver G. (1994).
d. Stickiness
This is the property of the dough that makes it really easy to have gooey and sticky texture. This is the reason it sticks to every surface that it comes into contact with. Be it the rolling pins, fermentation container, or even hands. It is essential for it to have a certain level of stickiness to hold the shapes made with it. Water plays a key role in this property. Too much can make the dough runny and sticky creating a mess, while lesser water can give it enough moisture to hold its shape.
Aspects that influence the dough handling properties:
Application
Dough is not a simple material to work with, all the four properties discussed above have proportional response to what is called “non-Newtonian behaviour”. The presence of gluten protein that is released upon hydration of flour is what showcases the fluid plus solid tendency which is called viscoelasticity (Weaver G. (1994).
Optimization of the workability properties of dough
Usually, dough must be elastic, and have enough extensibility to allow it to expand and keep the gases inside during both the proofing and baking process. It must be able to retain the shape given to it even as it grows and expands in size. It must preserve the simple and...