Enhancement of Wheat Flour and Dough Properties by Non-Thermal Plasma Treatment of Wheat Flour

Abstract

Demand to improve food quality attributes without the use of chemicals has risen exponentially in the past few years. Non-thermal plasma (NTP) (also called ‘cold plasma’) is becoming increasingly popular for this purpose due to its unique low-temperature and non-chemical nature. In the present research, the concept of in situ dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) plasma treatment inside a rotational reactor for the direct treatment of wheat flour was experimentally analyzed. The primary research goal was to determine the effects of short-period NTP treatment of DBD type on flour and dough properties. For this purpose, the influence of different operating parameters was tested, i.e., treatment time, the amount of flour placed in the reactor and the environmental (air) temperature. Changes in the structural attributes of the most commonly used flours (type 550 and 1050) and their respective doughs were studied using a set of analytical techniques. Rheological analysis demonstrated the ability of NTP to significantly intensify the visco-elastic properties of dough produced from wheat flour type 550 that was treated for less than 180 s. This indicated that plasma treatment enhanced intermolecular disulphide bonds in gluten proteins, which resulted in stronger protein–starch network formations. However, longer treatment times did not result in a significant increase in the visco-elastic properties of wheat dough. The obtained results showed a 6–7% increase in flour hydration due to NTP treatment, which also makes a contribution to hydrogen bonding due to changes in the bonded and free water phase. Experimental findings further confirmed the dependence of NTP treatment efficiency on environmental air temperature.

Influence of Non-Thermal Plasma Treatment on Structural Network Attributes of Wheat Flour and Respective Dough

“…Two types of starch granules, type A (long and lenticular shape) and type B (small and spherical), are identified in wheat flour [90]. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images of starch types can be found in our previous study [64].…”

“…The uniform flour treatment inside the reactor is ensured by the presence of plastic baffles (H = 30 mm, thickness = 3 mm). Further details of the setup can be found in our previous publication [64].…”

Recent Advances in Atmospheric-Pressure Plasma Technology

“…Contributions to this Special Issue focus on different aspects of Atmospheric-Pressure Plasma Technology, giving valuable examples of applied research in the field. This Special Issue of Applied Sciences, "Recent Advances in Atmospheric-Pressure Plasma Technology", includes one review [3] and eight original papers [4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11], providing new insights into the application of atmospheric pressure plasma technology. Domonkos et al [3] discussed the application of cold atmospheric pressure plasma (CAPP) technology in different configurations.…”

“…Khan et al [10] reported a dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) plasma rotational reactor for the direct treatment of wheat flour. The primary research goal was to determine the effects of short-period cold plasma treatment of DBD type on flour and dough properties.…”

Effects of Moisture Content and Grain Type on Mechanical Properties of White Rice: Literature review and Experiment

“…Yolanda and Nandiyanto (2022) provided detailed steps on how to read and measure the diameter of material using SEM. Martelo et al (2021) used SEM to characterize the surface topography of coated paperboard, Khan et al (2022) used SEM to investigate the microstructural changes of wheat flours and doughs, and Liu et al (2019) used SEM for corn flour. Meanwhile, Rosli and Ain (2014) reported that the cross-sectional diameters for brown rice and white rice samples were in the range of 847 to 1000 µm.…”