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Yeast-leavened dough processing is semicontinuous due to the requirement for fermentation at constant temperature and humidity. Also, new regulations on the emission of alcohols are becoming burdensome on the baking industry. Extrusion processing of dough with supercritical carbon dioxide (SC-CO(2)) is envisioned to alleviate emission problems and to decrease production time by eliminating fermentation. A bread dough formulation with 50% (w/w) moisture was leavened by injecting 1.5% (w/w) SC-CO(2) in a twin-screw extruder at 37 degrees C. Specific mechanical energy input was 260 kJ/kg. The operating apparent shear rate range was 60-260 s(-1). SCFX-leavened dough density (420-430 kg/m(3)) was in good agreement with values reported for similar doughs. The flow behavior index, obtained by an on-line slit rheometer, was 0.49 for the nonleavened control and 0.63 for the SCFX-leavened dough. Apparent viscosity of the SCFX-leavened dough varied from 37 to 23 Pa-s. This new continuous process offers attractive possibilities for industrial applications if further developed.

An expanded food product was obtained from lentil flour-corn starch-corn oil mixtures by extrusion cooking. Effects of protein, lipid, and moisture contents of the feed mixture; cooking temperature and screw speed on starch gelatinization; protein insolubility; and lipid complexation were investigated. Effects of these functional properties on expansion ratio, cell size distribution, and cutting strength were assessed. Optimum feed composition was 67% lentil flour, 30% corn starch, and 3% corn oil (db). This mixture was processed at 15% moisture content and 178 • C temperature. Expansion ratio was 3.7 and degree of gelatinization was 0.70.

The functional quality of Mozzarella cheese is defined by its ability to melt and stretch. Currently used methods to evaluate the stretchability of Mozzarella cheese are empirical and lack control of moisture loss and temperature. The typical fork test, the imitative tensile stretch test, and the 3-pronged-hook probe tensile test all expose the test samples to ambient conditions during stretching and thus give poorly reproducible results. An objective method developed in our laboratory to evaluate stretchability of cheese is based on the principle of the Ring-and-Ball method used to measure the softening point of polymers. This technique, which controls temperature and moisture loss, was used to quantify the stretchability of Mozzarella cheese. Average stretch length varied between 4 to 9 cm between the youngest and the oldest cheese samples. The method was found to be sensitive enough to discriminate between cheeses of different ages. The results showed that the technique is reproducible and gives reliable stretch length and stretch length vs. time data, which was further used to estimate extensional viscosity of the test sample. Age-related differences were reflected in extensional viscosity that decreased from 17.4 to 13.6 kPa.s with increase in age.