Publication no. C-1998-0804-01R |  VIEW ARTICLE

Role of Hydrogen Peroxide Produced by Baker's Yeast on Dough Rheology (1).

Yue Liao (2,3), R. A. Miller (2,4), and R. C. Hoseney (2,4,5). (1) Contribution 98-40-J. Kansas Agricultural Experiment Station, Manhattan. (2) Graduate research assistant, research associate, and professor, respectively, Dept. Grain Science and Industry, Kansas State University, Manhattan, 66506. (3) Present address: Bunge Foods, 725 North Kinzie Ave., Bradley, IL 60915. (4) Present address: R&R Research Services, Inc., 8831 Quail Lane, Manhattan, KS 66502. (5) Corresponding Author, E-mail: <r_and_r@kansas.net> Cereal Chem. 75(5):612-616. Accepted May 2, 1998. Copyright 1998 American Association of Cereal Chemists, Inc.

Baker's yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, has a well-known effect on dough rheology during breadmaking. During a 3-hr fermentation, hydrogen peroxide (H(2)O(2)) produced by yeast (0.76%, fwb) increased from 1.09 to 2.32 µmol/g of flour. The spread test, a measure of a dough's rheological properties, showed that yeast had an effect on dough rheology similar to that of H(2)O(2), an oxidant that makes flour-water dough more elastic. In additional experiments (spread test and H(2)O(2) measurement), glucose oxidase, an enzyme that produces H(2)O(2), gave results similar to those with yeast. The fact that catalase, an enzyme that destroys H(2)O(2), reversed the rheological effect of added H(2)O(2) but did not reverse the effect of either yeast or glucose oxidase suggested that either wheat flour contains an inhibitor to catalase or H(2)O(2) was not the active component. A series of experiments, including use of defatted flour, remixing, and mixing dough under nitrogen, all indicated that catalase was inhibited by peroxides in the lipid fraction of flour. These results also suggested that H(2)O(2) is responsible for the effects of yeast and glucose oxidase on dough.