Abstract: It has been suggested that the glass transition temperature might be a good indicator of food stability. The objectives of this study were to establish a suitable protocol for determining Tg values of wheat dough with differential scanning calorimeter (DSC), and to investigate the impacts of water content and food additives on the glass transition temperature of the wheat dough. The results indicated that the second-round scanning protocol is practical to detect the Tg of wheat dough. The results showed that as the moisture content increases, the glass transition temperature decreases linearly. Several food additives, e.g., L-ascorbicacid, trehalose, and glutin can significantly increase the Tg of wheat dough. These results are very useful to achieve a glassy-state condition during commercial storage facility (-18℃)and improve the quality of frozen food.

Key words: wheat dough, glass transition, DSC, water content, food additives