Konjac glucomannan-induced changes in thiol/disulphide exchange and gluten conformation upon dough mixing

Effects of konjac glucomannan (KGM) on the changes in gluten upon dough mixing were investigated in this study. Wheat flour was blended with KGM and processed into dough. Farinographic analysis showed that KGM caused a significant increase in water absorption and dough development time to reach maximum consistency. Comparison of electrophoretic protein profile from control dough and KGM-dough revealed that protein fractions were similar in molecular size distribution, but the lability of glutenin aggregates slightly differed. Addition of KGM to gluten induced negative effects on exchange between sulfhydryl groups and disulphide bonds. Fourier transform-Raman spectroscopy indicated that secondary structure of gluten proteins was differentially modified related with water absorption of flours before dough formation. This study reveals that when KGM is added to the dough, conformational behaviours of gluten proteins are changed and the hydroxyl groups of KGM might be involved in the interaction by forming strong intermolecular hydrogen bonding system.