American Association of Cereal Chem- ists/AOAC collaborative study was conducted to evaluate the accuracy and reliability of an enzyme assay kit procedure for measurement of total starch in a range of cereal grains and products. The flour sample is incubated at 95°C with thermostable α-amylase to catalyze the hydrolysis of starch to maltodextrins, the pH of the slurry is adjusted, and the slurry is treated with a highly purified amyloglucosidase to quantitatively hydrolyze the dextrins to glucose. Glucose is measured with glucose oxidase-peroxidase reagent. Thirty-two collaborators were sent 16 homogeneous test samples as 8 blind duplicates. These samples included chicken feed pellets, white bread, green peas, high- amylose maize starch, white wheat flour, wheat starch, oat bran, and spaghetti. All samples were analyzed by the standard procedure as detailed above; 4 samples (high-amylose maize starch and wheat starch) were also analyzed by a method that requires the samples to be cooked first in dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO). Relative standard deviations for repeatability (RSDr) ranged from 2.1 to 3.9%, and relative standard deviations for reproducibility (RSDr) ranged from 2.9 to 5.7%. The RSDr value for high amylose maize starch analyzed by the standard (non-DMSO) procedure was 5.7%; the value

Cereal Chem. 77(1):39-43Development of a small-scale method to measure dough extensibility, using a 2-g mixograph and the TA.XT2 texture analyzer (TA) equipped with Kieffer rig, suitable for early-generation wheat quality screening is presented. Three hook speeds 3.3, 7.0, and 10.0 mm/sec were tested on the TA. Only at the lower hook speed of 3.3 mm/sec were wheats, varying in quality, clearly differentiated. The ability to differentiate between wheats using the TA was compared with the Brabender Extensigraph. The sample ranking based on the resistance to extension (R max ) from the TA at a hook speed of 10.0 mm/sec correlated highly (r = 0.99) to the ranking obtained on the extensigraph. Dough extensibility data from the extensigraph and the TA, using hook speed 10.0 mm/sec, was correlated (r = 0.90) to loaf volume. Similarly, dough extensibility on the TA, using hook speed 3.3 mm/sec, was correlated to loaf volume (r = 0.96). The effect of three dough water contents (farinograph absorption, farinograph absorption + 6%, and 2-g mixograph water absorption) on physical properties of dough were evaluated by mixing the dough in a 2-g mixograph and testing the extensibility on the TA. Dough prepared at farinograph absorption + 6% and at mixograph absorption allowed differentiation between wheats based on the resistance to extension (R max ).

Cereal Chem. 76(1):9-15The advantages of using the mixograph to determine dough mixing properties include minimal flour requirements (2-35 g) and an efficient mixing process that rapidly resolves mixing peaks. A disadvantage to using this instrument is that it lacks an objective absorption measurement. This article describes an analysis system, RsMix, that objectively determines water absorption and statistically evaluates (R 2 and probability values) this measurement. The RsMix system also exports files that produce response surface plots. These plots illustrate the response of the dough to different combinations of mixing time and absorption. Each data set analyzed by the RsMix system was composed of an absorption series run at 2% absorption increments. The RsMix system attempts to maximize power input over data collected over absorption and time ranges. These data can be input manually or automatically acquired from MixSmart data files. To measure the precision of the RsMix system, a replicated absorption series composed of four to six different amounts of added water was analyzed. Depending on the mixer and formulation used, calculated standard deviations for optimum absorptions ranged from 0.8 to 2.0%. A regression comparing flour protein content to 2-g mixograph absorption had r 2 = 0.80. A similar regression comparing 2-g mixograph to 50-g farinograph absorption had r 2 = 0.81. Mixograph parameters could also account for 90% or more of the variation in bake absorption, bread volume, and total bread scores.Publication no. C-1999-0104-04R.