Improvement of Textural Attributes of Gluten-Free Doughs for Industrial Production of “Empanadas” and Pie-Crusts

G. LORENZO; N. E. ZARITZKY; A. N. CALIFANO

Foz de Iguazú, Brasil

Congreso; CIGR - International Conference of Agricultural Engineering; 2008

Dough for “empanadas” is a non-fermented wheat-based dough, which is highly consumed in Latin America, but unsuitable for celiac people. Gluten matrix is a major determinant of the properties of dough, thus it must be replaced with other network forming components, such as hydrocolloids. We evaluated three combinations of hydrocolloids (Xanthan/Guar gums, Hydroxy propyl methyl cellulose (HPMC) and Xathan/HPMC). Three different kinds of lipid phase were also studied; i.e. sunflower oil, low and high solid content margarine at two different levels (20-30%). Changes in rheological and textural properties during refrigerated storage were evaluated by dynamic oscillatory measurements and puncture and elongation tests on the uncooked dough. Best results were obtained using either hydrocolloids mixture. Besides the textural characteristics of cooked empanadas were also studied. Freezing before baking did not alter the quality of the crust in the products. Two thirds of the panelists preferred a formulation containing xanthan/HPMC gums over the commercial dough.