Abstract: The texture and microstructure (gluten protein secondary structure) of wheat dough were determined by texture analyzer and Fourier transform infrared spectrometer (FTIR) to analyze the effect of adding different amounts of water on the quality of frozen wheat dough. The results showed the significant impact of water addition and freezing on texture characteristics of wheat dough and the secondary structure of gluten proteins. With increasing water addition, the hardness, and viscosity of frozen wheat dough increased, cohesion and the elasticity decreased when compared with the nonfrozen one. However, water addition had little effect on the resilience of frozen wheat dough. After freezing, the contents of β-sheet and α-helix of gluten proteins increased, and the content of β-turn decreased, resulting in a stable network structure of gluten proteins. These results indicated that water is an important factor affecting the quality of frozen wheat dough. This study can provide a theoretical basis for further studies aimed at revealing the mechanism of the effect of water addition on the quality of frozen wheat dough.

Key words: freeze, water addition, texture characteristics, gluten protein secondary structure