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ARS Home » Plains Area » Manhattan, Kansas » Center for Grain and Animal Health Research » Grain Quality and Structure Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #226030
Title: Investigating the Effect of Dough Preparation Using Hot Water and Pre-Geleatinized Starch on Tortilla Quality

Author
item XIE, FENG - KANSAS STATE UNIVERSITY
item Seabourn, Bradford
item Tilley, Michael - Mike
item Chen, Yuanhong - Richard

Submitted to: Meeting Abstract
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 9/21/2008
Publication Date: 9/21/2008
Citation: Xie, F., Seabourn, B.W., Tilley, M., Chen, Y.R. 2008. Investigating the Effect of Dough Preparation Using Hot Water and Pre-Geleatinized Starch on Tortilla Quality. [abstract]. Cereal Foods World. 53:A86.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: One of the traditional ways to make “Lao Bing”, a Chinese tortilla-like flatbread, is to mix dough in which one-half of the added water is heated up to 60~80 degrees Celsius. The product is preferred due to its softness, but the reason for this increased softness is unknown. Our hypothesis is that addition of hot water gelatinizes part of the starch, which could hold more moisture, and hence increase the softness. The objective of this study was to determine if pre-gelatinized (pre-g) starch could improve tortilla quality. A complete randomized block design was applied. Tortillas were made using a commercial tortilla flour with the addition of 0%, 10%, 20%, and 30% pre-g starch. To examine the effects of hot water on tortilla quality, tortillas were prepared using the commercial flour and 50% of the total water at 75 degrees Celsius. Samples were kept in plastic ziplock bags at room temperature immediately after cooling. Rollability test was conducted on day 1, 7 and 14 of storage and samples were rated on a 1-5 scale with 5 as best. Stretchability (maximum force (MF) and distance) was analyzed on day 0, 1, 7, and 14 after baking using a Texture Analyzer (TA-XT2, Texture Technology Corp., Scarsdale, NY). At least 6 replicates were tested for rollability and 12 were tested for stretchability. The control had the lowest rollability compared to the others at all timepoints. At day 14, the rollability of the 30% pre-g was 3.85, which was 1.71 times of that of the control. MF of all the samples was about the same at day 0 and increased during storage. However, the 30% pre-g had the lowest rate of increase. On day 14, the control had the highest MF, which was 1.5 time of that of the 30% pre-g. The results indicated that pre-gelatinized starch could improve tortilla quality. Increasing water temperature could easily gelatinize starch and hence improving tortilla quality with minimal cost. This method would largely benefit the commercial tortilla producer.