Subcritical water (SCW) hydrolysis is an alternative to traditional methods of protein hydrolysis that uses water as a reaction medium. In this study, the effect of SCW treatment on heat-induced conformational changes in wheat gluten and its relation to enzymatic susceptibility were investigated. The degree of deamidation increased rapidly from 12.5 to 47.4% with increase in the temperature range of 160-220 °C. Protein solubility increased in a similar pattern with degree of deamidation and almost all protein was solubilized after treatment with SCW at 200 °C. SCW treatment in a particular time-temperature combination results in a significant decrease in enzymatic susceptibility. After SCW treatment at 220 °C for 20 min, enzymatic susceptibility of gluten protein was exceedingly decreased to nearly complete loss. Because of excess degradation and deamidation and small molecular size (less than 6500 Da) many hydrolysis sites disappear and are difficult to access by protease.

To improve dispersibility of cereal powder without additives, granulation of cereal powder was conducted using fluidized- bed granulator. Operation condition was sample 300 g, internal temperature 40°C, ventilation speed 30-90 m3/ h, inlet temperature 90°C and spray pressure 2.5 bar. The amount of distilled water (20-45%) as binder, granulation time (10-15 min) and drying time (3-10 min) were controlled. Mean diameter over volume (Brouckere mean, D4,3) was increased from 123 μm to 263 μm and dispersibility was improved from 73% to 92.25% at experiment conditions. Wettability (wetting time) was drastically decreased from 5,000 second to 7 second. Granulation of cereal powder did not affect sinkability and mean diameter over volume as wet analysis was about the same between raw and granulated cereals. Such phenomenon means that granulation with only water as binder enables cereal powder to disperse in water or milk without rapid sedimentation.