Protein in wheat

Wheat is supreme among cereals largely because its grain contains proteins with unique chemical and physical properties.

Wheat has achieved its position as a basic food crop as a result of a number of attributes, not the least of which is the unique capacity of its protein to from an elastic, cohesive mass when mixed with water.

Wheat kernel consist of three main parts; bran, germ and endosperm. The endosperm is the white, starchy part of the kernel that remains when the bran and germ are removed.

Depending on its source, the wheat endosperm contains about 68 to 76% starch and 6 to 18% protein. In white flour proteins act as binding agents that hold the starch granulates together in the endosperm.

About 80% of the protein the protein in flour are called glutenin and gliadin. These two protein, when combined with water and mixed in a dough, form an elastic substance called gluten.

Gluten exhibits plasticity, strength, and elasticity, which means that it is capable of deformation when placed under pressure, that it tends to resists that deformation and that it tends to reassume its original form when pressure is released.

Other proteins present in white flour are enzymes, most importantly amylase also called diastase. This enzyme breakdown starch into simple sugars, which important for yeast fermentation.

Wheat protein are classified according to their extractability and solubility in various solvents:
*Albumin – soluble in water
*Globulin – insoluble in pure water but soluble in dilute NaCl solution and insoluble at high NaCl concentration
*Gliadin – soluble in 70% ethyl alcohol
*Gutenin – soluble in dilute acid or sodium hydroxide solutions.

Celiac disease is an immune disorder in which the body creates antibodies to gluten, a protein found in wheat and other grains. The resulting inflammation damages the surface of the intestinal wall, eventually causing the villi (fingerlike projections important for absorption) to become ‘flattened in appearance.

Protein levels in wheat are an important factors in determining hard red spring wheat prices and particularly for hard red spring grown in Minnesota, Montana, North Dakota and South Dakota. High protein commands higher prices in the market.  
Protein in wheat