Bread making theory a myth?

A 50 year old theory on bread making may be wrong, suggest food scientists at Kansas State University reports the New Scientist. When wheat dough is kneaded, it thickens into a full-bodied, elastic mass. Molecules within the dough form a scaffolding which gives breads and cakes their springy texture. Food scientists had thought that this scaffolding was made by the repeated breaking and reforming of disulphide bonds within and between giant protein complexes called glutens. But cereals scientist Katherine Tilley has found that the effect is due to the amino acid tyrosine, and has nothing to do with disulphide links. "The theory became accepted with no hard evidence,"​ she says. Tilley tested some dough in the lab. She found that the more elastic the dough, the more cross links there were between tyrosine molecules. Dough made from poorer-quality flour also contained fewer tyrosine cross links than dough made from the best bread-making flours. Tilley and her colleagues are now designing a quick test to allow bakeries to measure the level of cross-linking in a dough. Based on the results, bakers will be able to adjust the dough's elasticity. The New Scientist reports that some bread researchers say they'd like to see the work repeated. But many bakers are already convinced. "This research will lead to a more consistent loaf of bread,"​ says Teresa Cogswell, a vice president of Interstate Brands, the parent company of Wonder Bread in the US. Source: New Scientist​