REVIEW

Solvent Retention Capacity (SRC) Testing of Wheat Flour:

Principles and Value in Predicting Flour Functionality in Different
Wheat-Based Food Processes and in Wheat BreedingA Review

Meera Kweon,1,2 Louise Slade,3 and Harry Levine3,4

ABSTRACT Cereal Chem. 88(6):537552

Solvent retention capacity (SRC) technology, its history, principles, aqueous lactic acid, dilute aqueous sodium carbonate, and concentrated
and applications are reviewed. Originally, SRC testing was created and aqueous sucrose solutions), rather than any single individual SRC value,
developed for evaluating soft wheat flour functionality, but it has also has been shown to be critical to various successful end-use applications.
been shown to be applicable to evaluating flour functionality for hard Moreover, a new predictive SRC parameter, the gluten performance index
wheat products. SRC is a solvation test for flours that is based on the (GPI), defined as GPI = lactic acid/(sodium carbonate + sucrose) SRC
exaggerated swelling behavior of component polymer networks in se- values, has been found to be an even better predictor of the overall per-
lected individual diagnostic solvents. SRC provides a measure of solvent formance of flour glutenin in the environment of other modulating
compatibility for the three functional polymeric components of flour networks of flour polymers. SRC technology is a unique diagnostic tool
gluten, damaged starch, and pentosanswhich in turn enables prediction for predicting flour functionality, and its applications in soft wheat breed-
of the functional contribution of each of these flour components to overall ing, milling, and baking are increasing markedly as a consequence of
flour functionality and resulting finished-product quality. The pattern of many successful, recently published demonstrations of its extraordinary
flour SRC values for the four diagnostic SRC solvents (water, dilute power and scope.

Wheat flour is a major ingredient of baked goods, and flour quality, whereas cookie- and cake-baking tests, as well as a new
quality contributes predominantly to final product quality. Flour benchtop cracker-baking method (Kweon et al 2011a, 2011b), are
quality can be considered as a combination of performance and used to assess soft wheat flour quality.
conformance (also known as consistency), which is impacted by Plasticization of flour polymers is critical to dough mixing and
the four major factors of genetics, agronomics, milling, and bak- baking for biscuit products (Levine and Slade 1990). Slade and
ing (Kweon et al in press) Evaluating flour quality is an essential Levine (1994) examined the kinetics of dough development for
task for breeders, millers, and bakers in selecting good-quality soft wheat flour doughs through mixography with various concen-
wheat cultivars with optimized performance with respect to culti- trations of aqueous sucrose (Suc) solutions to explore the behav-
vation, milling, and baking. ior of concentrated aqueous sugar solutions, which mimic the
For analyzing the relationship between flour quality and baked liquid environment in the doughs of most cookies and high-sugar
product quality, dough rheology methods (e.g., farinography, crackers (Kweon et al in press), as plasticizers of flour polymers
mixography, extensography, and alveography) and baking tests compared with water alone. The observed increase in dough devel-
(bread, cookies, and cakes) have widely and traditionally been opment time with increasing sugar solution concentration, com-
used. Empirical rheological measurements are commonly used for pared with that for water alone, reflected the decreased mobility
evaluating the gluten quality and overall baking functionality of a of the dough system rather than a decreased amount of water
given flour. Farinography and mixography are used most often for available to hydrate the flour. In fact, solvation of gluten by aque-
hard wheat bread flours, whereas alveography is the method of ous sugar solutions is thermodynamically more favorable than
choice for soft wheat biscuit flours (Faridi and Rasper 1987; hydration of gluten by water alone, but the kinetics of gluten de-
Levine and Slade 2004). Among dough rheology methods, farino- velopment are retarded by increasing concentrations of a single
graphy and mixography are typically used to obtain information sugar or different types of sugars at the same concentration.
on a flours water-absorption behavior and on the mixing time of Mixograph kinetics as a function of sugar type and concentration
a dough, as related to gluten development (Finney and Shogren relate to polymer-network formation and functionality near room
1972; Shuey 1984; Shogren 1990). In these two methods, differ- temperature. Slade and Levine (1994) reported that it is necessary
ent levels of water are added to achieve constant dough consis- to distinguish the contributions of network formation and swelling
tency. In contrast, in extensography and conventional alveogra- by flour polymers near room temperature during dough mixing
phy, a constant amount of water is added, regardless of the actual and lay (resting) time, on the one hand, and at elevated tempera-
water absorption of a given flour, to obtain information on the tures during baking, on the other hand, to interpret the mechanism
flours dough-forming properties and gluten strength (Rasper et al of baking performance for soft wheat flour products. One should
1985; Faridi and Rasper 1987; Bloksma and Bushuk 1988). not confuse such rheological kinetic behavior, as observed in
Bread-baking tests are typically used to assess hard wheat flour mixography, Rapid Visco analysis (RVA), and farinography, or the
kinetic behavior observed in differential scanning calorimetry
1 U.S.
(DSC) with limited solvent and elevated temperature, with an
Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Soft Wheat Qual-
ity Laboratory, Wooster, OH 44691.
energetic effect, as in the excess-solvent situation for the solvent
2 Current address: Campbell Soup Company/Pepperidge Farm, Camden, NJ 08103. retention capacity (SRC) method (with no shear and no heat)
3 Food Polymer Science Consultancy, Morris Plains, NJ 07950. (Kweon et al in press).
4 Corresponding author. E-mail: [email protected]
Even though empirical rheological and baking tests are so
widely used, they all measure, in one way or another, only the
http://dx.doi.org/10.1094 / CCHEM-07-11-0092
This article is in the public domain and not copyrightable. It may be freely re- combined, cumulative contributions of the major flour functional
printed with customary crediting of the source. AACC International, Inc., 2011. components, which include damaged starch, gluten proteins, and

Vol. 88, No. 6, 2011 537

arabinoxylans (also known as pentosans), rather than the individ- absorption, which is pertinent to the preparation of doughs and
ual functional contribution of each of those components sepa- batters for baked goods, but each of these functional components
rately. Preferred flour functionality for baked products varies, has a different WHC (Kweon et al in press). Water-soluble pento-
depending on desired product attributes. For example, required sans (also known as water-extractable arabinoxylans) are widely
flour functionality for bread is very different from that for cookies considered to have a much greater WHC than do damaged starch
or crackers or cakes. Flour for bread production generally requires or gluten. Generally, soft wheat products such as cookies and
high water absorption, good gluten strength, and relatively high crackers require flours with low water absorption (Slade and
damaged starch and arabinoxylans, whereas flour for cookie pro- Levine 1994). In contrast, hard wheat products such as bread re-
duction generally requires low water absorption, minimal gluten quire flours with high water absorption. These factors suggest that
strength, and low damaged starch and arabinoxylans. The biscuit- arabinoxylans play a detrimental role in the production of cookies
baking industry (producers of cookies and crackers) in the United and crackers (Levine and Slade 2004) but a beneficial role in the
States generally prefers soft wheat flours with high gluten production of breads.
strength but low water-holding capacity (WHC), especially for Finney and Yamazaki (1946) reported that an acid-water reten-
use in commercial cracker production. Damaged starch generated tion capacity test for hard wheat flours correlated highly with
during flour milling and arabinoxylans originating from the aleu- baked loaf volume for bread. Later, Finney and Yamazaki (1953)
rone and bran layers of the wheat kernel significantly increase the introduced alkaline viscosity and reported its high correlation
WHC of flour, which is an undesirable characteristic for good- with cookie diameter. Yamazaki (1953) also introduced alkaline
quality cookie and cracker flours (Slade and Levine 1994). For water retention capacity (AWRC) and reported its high correlation
flours with high WHC, cookie and cracker dough formation and with cookie diameter. Since then, an AWRC method, AACC
development during mixing require the addition of excessive water, International Approved Method 56-10.02 (2010), has been widely
which may necessitate concomitant increases in baking time and used to measure the water-absorption capacity of flours, which
temperature, resulting in increased energy costs, to bake out the results from the cumulative contributions of all three functional
extra water to enable simultaneous attainment of finished-product flour components. In the AWRC method, 0.1N sodium bicarbon-
target specifications for moisture content and color (Kweon et al ate solution (pH 8.0) is used to aid in pH adjustment for water of
in press). different pHs close to neutral. But water-absorption capacity
The ability to analyze the individual functional contribution of alone is not sufficient for predicting the different flour functional-
each functional component of flour would enable end-users to ities required for different types of baked products. As already
better predict overall flour functionality and obtain optimized mentioned, for that purposeto analyze the functional contribu-
product quality through a deeper understanding of mechanisms tions of each major flour component individuallya more reveal-
for dough mixing and baking. As a valuable tool for measuring ing SRC method was created and developed by Slade (Slade and
flour functionality for soft wheat applications, the SRC method Levine 1994; Haynes et al 2009). In 1999, the Soft Wheat Flour
was conceived and developed by Louise Slade at Nabisco in the Technical Committee of AACC International conducted a collabo-
late 1980s (Slade and Levine 1994; Haynes et al 2009) and then rative study to evaluate this SRC method, and the Methods Com-
implemented as an AACC International Approved Method (Gaines mittee subsequently approved it as an official method, 56-11.02
2000; method 56-11.02, 2010). The SRC test is a solvation assay (Gaines 2000).
for flours that is based on the enhanced swelling behavior of indi-
vidual polymer networks in selected single diagnostic solvents PRINCIPLES UNDERLYING SRC
water, 5% w/w lactic acid (LA) in water (for glutenin), 5% w/w
sodium carbonate (Na2CO3) in water (for damaged starch), and Small molecules dissolve in excess amounts of solvent, but lar-
50% w/w Suc in water (for pentosans)which are used to predict ger molecules can solvate and then easily entangle rather than
the functional contribution of each individual flour component. dissolve. Cross-linked polymeric material will swell to varying
The SRC method is increasingly used by wheat breeders, millers, degrees, and the extent of swelling of a solvated polymeric mass
and bakers, as well as by cereal and other research scientists can be measured by changes in length, weight, or volume. For
(Pareyt et al 2008; Linlaud et al 2009; Kongraksawech et al 2010; estimating numerically the degree of interaction between materi-
Pareyt 2010; Duyvejonck et al 2011a, 2011b; Jazaeri et al 2011; als, the Hildebrand solubility parameter () was proposed, and
Moses and Dogan 2011), and the relationships between flour SRC swelling values are utilized to measure the solubility parameter of
profiles and finished-product quality (e.g., for cookies, crackers, polymers (Grulke 1989). The extent of swelling for polymers is
cakes, noodles, and breads) have recently been widely reported thermodynamically analogous to the extent of solubility for small
and discussed (Slade and Levine 1994; Fritz 1999; Guttieri et al molecules. The SRC test was developed on the basis of this the-
2001, 2002, 2004, 2008, 2011; Bettge et al 2002; Guttieri and ory, as a new way to explore and estimate solubility parameter
Souza 2003; Gaines 2004; Ram and Singh 2004; Ram et al 2005; values for polymeric flour components (Slade and Levine 1994).
Roccia et al 2006; Xiao et al 2006; Barrera et al 2007; Fustier et SRC technology is based on energetics (related to thermodynamic
al 2007; Zhang et al 2007, 2008; Colombo et al 2008; Souza et al polymer-solvent compatibility), not kinetics (related to mobility
2008; Tanhehco and Ng 2008; Walker et al 2008; Kweon et al constraints for poor plasticizers). Dough rheological tests, in con-
2009a, 2009b, 2009d, 2011a, 2011b; Nishio et al 2009, 2011; trast, are based on kinetics of dough development involving flour
Pasha et al 2009; Ross and Bettge 2009; Nakamura et al 2010; polymers plasticized by water or sugar-water solutions, use lim-
Oliete et al 2010; Zimeri 2010; Haas 2011). ited amounts of solvent, and give information on rates of network
development. SRC is a solvation test for flours that uses a large
HISTORY BEHIND SRC excess of solvent and is based on the swelling behavior of poly-
mer networks in diagnostic solvents. SRC results yield informa-
Controlling moisture content and relative vapor pressure (% tion on the extents of network development and solvent compati-
relative humidity/100) of baked products is critical for achieving bility (Sears and Darby 1982), information that is used to predict
good-quality products (in terms of product geometry, pH, color, the functional contributions of each polymeric flour component
flavor, texture, etc.) with extended shelf life (Slade and Levine (Kweon et al in press).
1991, 1994). Flour functionality for each product type requires As alluded to previously, the SRC method is based on a classi-
different extents of functional contributions from each major flour cal thermodynamic determination of the solubility parameter of
component. The gluten, damaged starch, and arabinoxylan func- network-forming polymers. The SRC method deliberately avoids
tional components in flour each contribute to overall flour water kinetic effects, which would be incorrectly introduced by a rheo-

538 CEREAL CHEMISTRY

logical method such as RVA. Unless uniaxial shear is desired to ously will increase in all of these water-based solvents. Still, the
align high molecular weight (MW) glutenins or glutenin macro- greatest increase will occur in the solvent that is most compatible
polymer, the deliberate use of shear would violate the principle of with the flour polymer whose level is increased. Consequently,
the SRC method, in which manual shaking can only be replaced compared with a gold standard water SRC value of 51% (i.e.,
by gentle mechanical shaking. Thus, the SRC method cannot be based on the 5.0 g weight of flour of known moisture content, the
conducted by RVA, despite a recent suggestion to the contrary by swollen water-wet flour pellet would weigh 7.55 g), all three
the RVA instrument supplier (Dang and Bason 2006). other SRC values for a gold standard soft wheat biscuit flour are
Individual diagnostic solvents are used to identify which func- much greater than 51% (i.e., LA SRC 87%, Na2CO3 SRC
tional flour component is responsible for a given variation in 64%, and Suc SRC 89%) (Kweon et al in press).
flour-swelling behavior. As mentioned previously, the four stan- It is worth mentioning that the pH of LA SRC solution (5%
dard solvents of the SRC method are water, 5% w/w LA in water, w/w) is around 2.0, so this acidic environment mimics the usual
5% w/w Na2CO3 in water, and 50% w/w Suc in water. In the SRC condition (pH < 4.0) generated by LA bacteria and its effect on
method, these four solvents are each used at a fivefold excess to the functionality of glutenins during the fermentation process for
flour (25.0 g of solvent to 5.0 g of flour) to avoid kinetic effects production of sponge-and-dough type saltine crackers. The Na2CO3
on flour solvation and swelling. Consequently, SRC results cannot SRC solution (5% w/w) has a pH 12.0. This highly alkaline pH
be compared with results from rheological methods (which are is above the pK of starch hydroxyl groups. Under this condition,
routinely applied to concentrated flour-water systems), and one damaged starch can be easily solvated by Na2CO3 solution and
should not attempt to do so (Kweon et al in press), no matter how shows exaggerated swelling (Slade et al, unpublished data). This
tempting it might be to try. swelling allows the diagnostic distinction of damaged or pregela-
Water is the reference SRC solvent, because it can hydrate and tinized starches from undamaged, raw, native starch (AACC
swell all three of the functional polymeric flour components to International Approved Method 56-11.02). The Suc SRC solution
varying extents. The water SRC value is related to the overall has a neutral pH and exaggerates the swelling of an arabinoxylan
WHC contributed by the flour functional components, including network, because a 50% Suc solution exhibits good solvent com-
gluten, damaged starch, and pentosans. The WHC of flour (typi- patibility with the xylan backbone of wheat flour arabinoxylans
cally expressed as grams of water/gram of dry component and (Slade et al, unpublished data).
approximately equivalent to a flours water SRC value [Slade and Other examples of actual SRC values for some diverse real-
Levine 1994]) is an important functional characteristic related world flours include Na2CO3 SRC = 64% for Ohio SRW but
to the processing and finished-product quality of baked goods. 123% for Canadian patent durum, which is much harder textured;
According to accepted literature values for WHC (as discussed Suc SRC = 86% for Ontario soft white wheat (SWW) but 126%
in Kweon et al in press), wheat gluten can hold 2.8 g of H2O for Canadian patent durum and Canadian hard red spring (HRS)
per gram of dry gluten, but nongluten proteins hold negligible wheat; and LA SRC = 67% for weakly chlorinated Ohio SRW and
amounts of water. Native wheat starch can hold only 0.30.45 g rye-gene-translocated Ohio SRW but 177% for much stronger
of H2O per gram of dry starch, whereas damaged starch (pro- Canadian HRS (Kweon et al in press). Such SRC values, and
duced by milling) can hold 1.52 g of H2O per gram of dry starch, especially the corresponding patterns of the four SRC values
and gelatinized or pasted starch (as produced by baking) can hold appropriate for specific end-use applications, reflect predictive
up to 10 g of H2O per gram of dry starch. Wheat pentosans, information about potential flour performance capability, whereas
especially the so-called solvent-accessible (e.g., water-extract- the lot-to-lot variation in SRC values reflects information about
able) arabinoxylans, are generally regarded as the greatest water- flour conformance. Intuitively, flour conformance (to SRC and
holding component of soft wheat biscuit flours, with a WHC of alveograph functional specifications [Kweon et al in press]) must
10 g of H2O per gram of dry arabinoxylan. As will be discussed relate (most commonly as cause and effect) to bakery production
further later, when a pentosanase (endoarabinoxylanase) enzyme conformance (to finished-product quality specifications), so the
is added to a flour-water slurry, the water SRC value for the flour latter will be improved if flour SRC values vary little from day to
is significantly reduced, thus confirming the detrimentally high day and lot to lot (Slade and Levine 1994).
water-holding behavior of such pentosans (Levine and Slade
2004). A water SRC value of 51% was shown by an Ohio soft SRC PROCEDURE
red winter (SRW) wheat-based biscuit flour (a gold standard or
ideal cookie and cracker flour) with excellently low WHC (Slade The SRC test is a relatively simple and user-friendly method
and Levine 1994). (AACC International Approved Method 56-11.02, 2010). Flour
Each of the other three diagnostic SRC solvents is a better, (5.0 g) is weighed into a 50 mL conical-bottom centrifuge tube,
more compatible solvent (in the sense of the solubility parameter and 25.0 g of a selected solvent is added to the flour. This flour-
[Slade and Levine 1988, 1991, 1994]) for its specific individual solvent mixture is tapped on the bench and then mixed well with
flour polymerdilute aqueous LA solution for glutenins, dilute hand shaking to disperse the flour without lumps. After 20 min
aqueous Na2CO3 solution for the solvent-accessible amylopectin for hydration/solvation, the flour suspension is centrifuged at
in damaged starch, and concentrated aqueous Suc solution for 1,000 g for 15 min. Then the supernatant is discarded, and the
solvent-accessible pentosansthan is water alone. Thus, each tube is allowed to drain for 10 min. The weight of the swollen
flour polymer is more soluble in its respective SRC solvent than it pellet is then measured, and the SRC value is calculated, based on
is in water alone, so each of the three other SRC solutions exag- 14% flour moisture content and expressed as %. Recently, the
gerates the swelling of its more-compatible flour polymer (as Soft Wheat Flour Technical Committee of AACC International
related to the extent of polymer network development) more than proposed a revised calculation for SRC as well as for AWRC (Ap-
does water alone. Thus, the 5% LA solution exaggerates the proved Method 56-10.02, 2010), adjusted for correct flour mois-
swelling of a glutenin network, and the LA SRC value represents ture content. Haynes et al (2009) pointed out the problem with the
a measure of gluten quality and functionality. current equations regarding this moisture correction, which af-
Water is not the best solvent for any functional flour polymer. fects numbers larger than that representing the weight of solvent
The purpose of the other three solvents is to exaggerate the contri- retained by a flour, and explained the details behind the revised
bution of one functional flour component, compared with its SRC calculation. In fact, accurate flour moisture content is impor-
contribution to swelling in water. But a critical point to note is tant to any reliable measurement of flour functionality, because
that all four of the SRC solvents contain at least 50% water, so the SRC test is a solvent-compatibility method and the solvated
when the level of any flour polymer increases, the swelling obvi- flour needs to be mobile, above its glass transition temperature, at

Vol. 88, No. 6, 2011 539

room temperature (Slade and Levine 1994). For bread and pasta Na2CO3 SRC, 0.5%; LA SRC, 1.0%; and Suc SRC, 1.0%
products, a flour moisture content of 14.0 0.5% is widely be- (Kweon et al in press). Thus, SRC values should not be reported
lieved to be required for optimum functionality, whereas for cook- to more than one decimal place because of the limits of experi-
ies and crackers, a flour moisture content of 13.0 0.5% is mental error.
widely considered to be optimum for desired functionality.
To get reliable SRC results, correct preparation of the solvents SRC Results Go Beyond Those from Alveography
is essential. In particular, the LA and Suc solutions require extra To help the reader better appreciate the power and scope of
attention. When preparing the 5% w/w LA solution, the actual SRC testing, it will be worthwhile to first compare and contrast
assay value on the LA reagent bottle should be used for calculat- SRC results with results from conventional alveography. The
ing the appropriate amount of LA to be diluted for the solution. traditional alveograph method (Faridi and Rasper 1987) involves
Use of freshly prepared LA solution is required and recommended the blowing of a bubble from a dough made from flour and water
for the SRC test. If the LA solution is stored for longer than (actually, a dilute salt solution). The less the resistance of the
about a week at room temperature, the anhydride and lactide can dough to expansion (which is a positive attribute for a biscuit
hydrolyze to form LA, which results in increased strength of the dough), the easier it is to start forming and then expanding the
LA solution and thus decreased pH over time (Thurmond and bubble. This property is reflected in the alveograph P (pressure)
Edgar 1924). LA solution kept at room temperature increased in value, which represents the maximum peak height of the al-
normality from 1.000 to 1.185 and continued to increase for at veograph curve (alveogram). As an approximation, the lower the
least a month (Reiman 1934). A stronger LA solution would fur- P value, the better the quality of a biscuit flour. The other al-
ther exaggerate the swelling of a glutenin network, which would veograph parameters, L (length of the curve along the x-axis) and
result in an increased LA SRC value and thus an overestimation W (work, measured as the area under the curve), represent the
of gluten strength. Reiman (1934) reported that the viscosity of a duration of the bubble before it bursts (as related, in part, to
flour-in-water suspension increased with increasing storage pe- dough extensibility) and the strength of the dough, respectively.
riod of an LA solution because of the increased strength of the As explained further later, alveograph P and W values constitute
LA. For preparing the 50% w/w Suc solution, complete dissolu- valuable functional specifications for biscuit flours (Kweon et al
tion of the Suc is required, and the Suc concentration should be in press).
on a weight, not volume, basis (i.e., 50.0 g of Suc + 50.0 g of Commonly, the soft wheat flour specifications provided by
water). It is recommended that the Suc solution be prepared the many ingredient suppliers include only moisture, protein, and ash
day before SRC testing to allow enough time for the Suc to dis- contents, which are compositional rather than functional specifi-
solve completely. Although it is acceptable for the Suc solution to cations. Here, we choose to emphasize the point of view that such
be stored for a week at room temperature, mold can grow in it at compositional specifications are relatively uninformative and not
high temperatures (say, in summertime) over a longer storage useful, whereas functional specifications are vital to successful
period, so there is a need to check for mold before using the solu- biscuit making. Elsewhere (Slade and Levine 1994; Kweon et al
tion. Generally, the 5% w/w Na2CO3 solution can be stored for in press), the key question has been asked: How can one link the
longer times; it does not have a storage-time limit. Deionized or three functional flour componentsgluten, pentosans, and dam-
distilled water should always be used for preparing all SRC sol- aged starchto flour specifications? It was answered as follows:
vents; use of tap water is not recommended. Gluten links to protein content, acid viscosity (another common
Thorough suspension of flour in each SRC solvent is also flour specification not revealing of flour functionality in biscuit
important. The standard method for suspending flour is shaking baking), and the traditional alveograph parameters P, L, and W, of
by hand. However, for many wheat-breeding laboratories or which P and W have been recognized for decades (Faridi and
industrial milling or baking laboratories, which routinely evaluate Rasper 1987) as important functional flour specifications that can
large numbers of flour samples, hand shaking could turn into a provide useful information about flour functionality to end users.
tiring job for SRC operators. Use of a mechanical shaker is a Protein content is an especially uninformative flour specification,
possible solution, but the choice of the right shaker, with the because it includes both (functional) gluten and (nonfunctional)
correct shaking action and shaking-speed setting, should be care- nongluten proteins. Even with regard to gluten, its constituent
fully considered. An orbital shaker has been used for continuous proteins, gliadins and glutenins, manifest quite different function-
shaking at 100 rpm for 2025 min (Guttieri et al 2001, 2002, alities (Slade et al 1989): gliadins are lower-MW, viscous, exten-
2004; Guttieri and Souza 2003), and a vortex mixer has been used sible, two-dimensional film formers, not network formers, whereas
to replace intermittent hand shaking (Ram and Singh 2004; Ram glutenins are higher-MW, elastic, three-dimensional network for-
et al 2005; Xiao et al 2006; Guttieri et al 2008). Additionally, mers. Pentosans link indirectly (but not equivalently) to ash con-
numerous publications have reported other minor modifications, tent and directly to the alveograph functional specifications. Of
such as a reduction in flour sample size, to the SRC official the various types of starch, native starch in raw flour is essentially
method. For example, 0.2 g or 1.0 g of flour (or whole wheat inert and nonfunctional, whereas damaged starch is functional and,
meal) has been used for SRC testing, mainly for breeding pro- like gluten and pentosans, links directly to the alveograph func-
grams (Bettge et al 2002; Ram and Singh 2004; Ram et al 2005; tional specifications.
Guttieri et al 2008). Figure 1 (Kweon et al in press) shows an idealized alveograph
profile for a gold standard U.S. biscuit flour commercially milled
SRC RESULTS, THEIR INTERPRETATION, from Ohio SRW wheat, which, consistent with our own industrial
AND THEIR APPLICATIONS experience, is widely regarded as the worlds best-quality soft
wheat for traditional biscuit flours (Slade and Levine 1994). What
Because of the simplicity of the SRC method, the variations in made this actual flour gold standard were its alveograph func-
flour SRC values between laboratories and between operators in a tional specification values of P = 35 5, L = 100 10, and W =
laboratory are generally much smaller than those for other flour- 90 15, wherein these P, L, and W values evidenced its high
quality tests, such as rheological and baking tests (Gaines 2000). absolute quality and the ranges signified its excellent lot-to-lot
The reproducibility, in terms of repeatability, of SRC measure- consistency. As an ideal-quality flour for making both cookies
ments has been demonstrated through collaborative studies. When and crackers, a soft wheat flour should manifest the optimum
a well-trained operator in a laboratory performed an SRC analysis combination of P and W values: P must not be too low (<<30,
10 times on the same flour sample, the repeatability of those 10 indicating flour too soft, producing cookies that could spread too
measurements was determined to be as follows: water SRC, 0.5%; much) or too high (>>40, indicating flour that is too hard, corre-

540 CEREAL CHEMISTRY

lated with excessive levels of damaged starch and pentosans, re- the latter in part because the dough is not sufficiently extensible,
sulting in cookies that could not spread enough). And W must not possibly caused by gliadins of inferior functionality or glutenins
be too low (<<75, indicating flour too weak from insufficient of too high elasticity (Slade and Levine 1994). The ideal cookie
gluten strength, resulting in flat crackers that could not suffi- and cracker flour in Figure 1 also had a desirably low WHC, evi-
ciently maintain spring and thickness against collapse during bak- denced by its water SRC value of 51%. At this point, it is always
ing) or too high (>>105, indicating flour that is too strong, with worth pointing out that the best flour is obviously one with both
excessive gluten strength, again resulting in crackers that are too the best quality and the best consistency, simultaneously. In our
flat, from dough being too elastic and too resistant to spring dur- experience observing biscuit manufacturing around the world, if a
ing baking) (Slade and Levine 1994). In real-world practice, the commercial biscuit producer could not have this best of both
best quality cookie and cracker flour would be one on the soft or worlds, could have only one or the other, and had to choose be-
low side of the P specification range and on the strong or high tween best quality and best consistency, the manufacturer would
side of the W specification range. In contrast, a poor-quality bis- almost certainly always pick the flour with the best consistency.
cuit flour is usually too hard (P too high) and tends to show L As explained elsewhere (Kweon et al in press), a knowledgeable
consistently too low (<<90, signifying bubble rupture too early), baker can use a flour of less-than-ideal quality (e.g., P too high or
L too short) to produce consistent products of acceptable quality
by making skillful modifications to process and/or other formula
variables, as long as the quality of the available flour is consistent,
day in and day out. But at the mercy of a flour of inconsistent
quality, which varies from day to day and lot to lot, the baker is
helpless to know ahead of time what changes to the formula
and/or process might be required to enable production of consis-
tent, quality products.
To better understand the rationale behind Figure 1 and the fol-
lowing Figure 2 (Kweon et al in press), it helps to visualize the
triangles superimposed on the actual alveogram curve in Figure 1.
Those triangles demonstrate that the greater the Pmax, the greater
the L at Pmax, so we are really looking in Figure 2 for effects be-
yond that simple result of the geometry of the alveogram shape.
Figure 2 reveals what one can look for in the alveogram from
Figure 1. This alveogram can be used to locate the cumulative
(but not individual) contributions by the three functional compo-
nents of flour (gluten, damaged starch, and water-soluble pento-
sans) to Pmax during alveograph bubble initiation and early expan-
Fig. 1. An idealized flour alveograph profile (Kweon et al in press). P = sion. In turn, such alveogram results can be related to a flours
pressure; W = work; L = length; SRC = solvent retention capacity; and corresponding SRC valuessoluble pentosans to Suc SRC, dam-
WRC = water retention capacity. aged starch to Na2CO3 SRC, and gluten, in particular glutenins, to

Fig. 2. The alveograph profile from Figure 1, annotated with much additional underlying information available from such an alveogram (Kweon et al in
press). P = pressure; W = work; L = length; F= force; SA = surface area; and SRC = solvent retention capacity.

Vol. 88, No. 6, 2011 541

LA SRCthrough the four-solvent method (AACC International sets of alveograms shown in Figure 3 (Levine and Slade 2004).
Approved Method 56-11.02). (Note that in alveography, the time This control flour had a good, low P value of 28. As mentioned
of bubble expansion yields a measure of bubble volume [V], previously, this P value represents the sum of contributions (ordi-
where 1 sec = 5.5 mm of L and 1 mm of L = 5.0505 cm3 of air.) narily, quantitatively undefined) from all three of the functional
On the downside of the curve just past Pmax, the slope of the curve components (gluten, damaged starch, and water-soluble pento-
is controlled by the flour glutenins: a slope that is less negative sans, all of which also contribute to L and W) in a given biscuit
than that resulting only from the increase in bubble surface area flour. When pentosanase enzyme (PEN III liquid concentrate, a
(SA) signifies stronger, more orientable, more elastic glutenins. purified endoarabinoxylanase ingredient with no significant amy-
(As noted in Figure 2, P is proportional to force/SA, with the lase or protease side activities, supplied by Quest International,
crossover point between bubble SA and V occurring at L 22.4 ICI, USA) was added (at a standardized level of 0.4 oz/100 lb of
mm and V 113 cm3.) Further along the downside of the al- flour) during mixing of the flour-water dough, the resulting al-
veogram, the curvature and the associated duration of the bubble veograms showed a much reduced P of only 10. Therefore, 18 of
before rupturing (if not randomly caused by bubble-wall imper- the original 28 points of P were bad Pcontributing to resis-
fections) can be influenced by the flours extensible, film-forming tance of the dough to expansionevidently resulting from water-
gliadins (Slade et al, unpublished data). Finally, it is important soluble pentosans in the flour. When the alveograph analysis
to note that Pmax, as a parameter, has no functional meaning. It was carried out using 15% less than the standard amount of
just represents the coincidence of two independent, simultaneous water (which resulted in a much firmer dough) but no PEN en-
processes: 1) the yield-stress resistance to initial bubble expansion zyme, the resulting set of alveograms showed much increased P
and 2) because the bubble is expanding at a constant V rate, SA in- and W values, making the flour appear to be much harder and
creases as shown in the hand-drawn graph at the right in Figure 2. stronger (worse qualities, unsuitable for a biscuit flour) than it
To overcome several major negative effects (described in detail really was. Finally, when the two experimental treatments (PEN
in Levine and Slade 2004) of water-soluble pentosans in biscuit addition and water reduction) were combined, the resulting set
flours, Nabisco successfully commercialized a patented (i.e., an of alveograms (bottom of Fig. 3) showed P, L, and W values that
estate of five U.S. patents: Craig et al 1992; Slade et al 1993a, in essence reproduced those of the control alveogram. Thus,
1994; Zimmerman et al 1996a, 1996b) pentosanase enzyme tech- when pentosanase enzyme was used (to hydrolyze only the flours
nology for cookie and cracker production. The beneficial effect of water-soluble pentosans and thereby destroy their detrimental
added pentosanase (also known as endoxylanase or hemicellu- ability to form an entangled, highly water-holding, viscosity-
lase) in significantly improving the functionality of an already increasing, spread- and expansion-resisting, gel-like network in
high-quality Ohio SRW-based biscuit flour is illustrated by the the dough), a dough with viscosity (also known as dough con-
sistency or firmness), machinability, and expansion capability
essentially equal to that of the control dough could be produced
with 15% less water than usual. Evidently, such a pentosanase
enzyme-treated biscuit dough could, in theory (and actually in
practice), be baked in about 15% less time than usual (Levine
and Slade 2004).

Applications of SRC Results to Flour Milling

In Table I (Kweon et al in press), hypothetical flour specifica-
tion data are shown to address the question: How can traditional
alveography alone cause confusion for running a flour-milling
process and for satisfying customers? For the purposes of proc-
ess-operating control and customer satisfaction resulting from
consistency of flour quality, some commercial milling processes
are run on the basis of alveography, by targeting production of
flour with constant Pmax. The important underlying message illus-
trated in Table I is that biscuit flours of very different quality can
be milled from varying wheat blends, but such flours can have the
same Pmax and water SRC (or AWRC) values. Thus, the same
alveograph Pmax value can be measured for multiple flours (such
as the four listed in the table) with very different performance
capabilities for processability and product quality, breakage, and
Fig. 3. Alveograph profiles illustrating the role of pentosanase enzyme in shelf life. The four hypothetical flours described in Table I were
flour functionality (Levine and Slade 2004). P = pressure; W = work; and thought-experimentally created from varying blends of two soft
L = length. wheats: 1) generic Ohio SRW (soft-textured but not very strong)

TABLE I
Hypothetical Flour Specification Data Illustrating How Traditional Alveography Alone Can Cause Confusion
for Running a Flour-Milling Process and for Satisfying Customersa
% of Pioneer Water Lactic Acid P from Na2CO3 P from Sucrose P from Water-
25R26 in Flourb Pmax SRC SRC Gluten SRC Damaged Starch SRC Soluble Pentosans
10 36 53 80 9 70 12 98 15
15 36 53 85 12 70 12 93 12
20 36 53 90 15 65 9 93 12
25 36 53 95 18 65 9 88 9
a Adapted from Kweon et al (in press). The P provided by gluten gives the dough strength, whereas the P provided by the damaged starch and water-soluble
pentosans contributes to resistance of the dough to expansion. SRC = solvent retention capacity.
b The remainder of the flour is a generic Ohio soft red winter wheat.

542 CEREAL CHEMISTRY

and 2) a specific SRW cultivar, Pioneer 25R26. This specific good P from gluten and the higher the proportions of bad P from
cultivar had a remarkable (and unique, at the time of its commer- damaged starch and pentosans. Thus, at 10% Pioneer 25R26, only
cial introduction around 1999) combination of functional proper- 9 of 36 would be good P and 27 (12 + 15) would be bad P. But
ties, including the softness of the best Ohio SRW and the gluten note that the sum of good P and bad P for each flour totaled 36.
strength of a quality bread wheat, such as hard red winter (HRW) So the alveograph Pmax alone could not distinguish among the
from Kansas. Pioneer 25R26 represented the best of both worlds four flours or their different functionalities, which could only be
in a soft but strong wheat for cookie and cracker flour. It had the revealed completely by the SRC profile for each flour (Kweon et
softness (low damaged starch and pentosans) essential for making al 2011a, 2011b). As discussed and explained further later, the
any kind of traditional low-moisture, wide-diameter cookie, cou- SRC profile for the 25% Pioneer 25R26 flour, with its LA SRC
pled with the gluten strength necessary for making any kind of value of 95, indicated that it would have the highest gluten
traditional low-moisture, thick cracker (Slade and Levine 1994). strength (which would be best for maximizing cracker thickening
Use of wheat blends of Pioneer 25R26 and generic Ohio SRW, in during baking), making it the best flour of the four for dedicated
the proportions shown in Table I (from 10:90 to 25:75 Pioneer cracker making. In contrast, the SRC profile for the 10% Pioneer
25R26 to Ohio SRW), enabled the commercial production of both 25R26 flour, with its LA SRC value of only 80, indicated that it
cookies and crackers from a single optimized biscuit flour. This would have relatively low gluten strength (which would be best
optimization eliminated the major added expense incurred for minimizing inhibition of cookie spread during baking), mak-
through the often-necessary use of Kansas HRW bread wheat, for ing it often the best flour of the four for dedicated cookie making.
blending (at a 550% level) with Ohio SRW to produce cracker The 15 and 20% Pioneer 25R26 flours, with their intermediate LA
flours, to provide the greater gluten strength needed for many SRC values of 85 and 90, respectively, would have been suitable
cracker applications, but not ordinarily provided by generic Ohio for making both cookies and crackers. Notice also that the other es-
SRW alone. timated SRC values listed in Table I (Suc = 8898 and Na2CO3 =
In real-world commercial practice, flours milled from 100% 6570) were shown earlier to fall more or less within the SRC
Pioneer 25R26 SRW or 100% generic Ohio SRW often showed specification ranges for gold-standard biscuit flours (Kweon et al
the same Pmax values, in the range of 35 5, which validated the 2011a, 2011b).
choice of Pmax = 36 for illustrative purposes in Table I. Similarly, Another valuable, related use of SRC testing in flour milling
such model flours commonly showed the same water SRC values, involves mill-stream analysis and selection, for enhanced flour
in the range of 53 2%, even though those equivalent values must functionality at optimized cost. Full four-solvent SRC testing can
have been comprised of significantly different proportional contri- be done for individual flour mill streams, to identify streams to be
butions from the three major water-holding components (gluten, included or deliberately excluded from a final flour (e.g., 72%
damaged starch, and pentosans) in the two flours. A key point in extraction patent flour), on the basis of the magnitudes of their
the following discussion of Table I concerns the six flour func- positive (LA SRC value for gluten) and negative (Na2CO3 and
tional specification parameters: alveograph P and W and the four Suc SRC values for damaged starch and pentosans, respectively)
SRC values for the solvents water, LA, Na2CO3, and Suc. For contributing component functionalities. For this purpose, a con-
flours produced from wheat blends, such as the blends of Pioneer venient SRC testing methodology involves comparing and con-
25R26 and Ohio SRW in Table I, each value of P, W, and the four trasting SRC values for 5.0 g of a standard control flour (with a
SRC parameters equates to the mathematical, linearly propor- previously established, desirable SRC pattern) to corresponding
tional, weighted average of the corresponding P, W, and SRC SRC values for 4.5 g of the control flour + 0.5 g of each individ-
values for the 100% flours from each individual wheat in the ual mill-stream sample, to determine how a 10% (by weight)
blend (Slade and Levine 1994; Haas 2011; Kweon et al 2011a). substitution of a given mill stream affects (positively and/or nega-
For example, if hypothetical wheats X and Y, with flour Pmax val- tively) the desirable SRC values for the control flour. Although it
ues of 35 and 65, were blended to produce a 1:1 w/w X:Y flour, is widely recognized by millers that earlier mill streams (at lower
that flour would have a Pmax value of 50. If wheats X and Y, with extraction rates, containing more prime starchy endosperm, with
flour W values of 90 and 150, respectively, were blended to pro- less damaged starch and pentosans) generally contribute to higher
duce a 3:1 w/w X:Y flour, that flour would have a W value of 105. final-flour quality, whereas later mill streams (at higher extraction
And if wheats X and Y, with LA SRC values of 90 and 130, rates, containing more aleurone and bran fractions, with more
respectively, were blended to produce an 80:20 w/w X:Y flour, damaged starch and pentosans) are generally detrimental to final-
that flour would have an LA SRC value of 98. For the illustrative flour quality, it is also known that two flours with the same
purpose of the thought experiment described in Table I, a 100% extraction rate (e.g., 72%) can differ significantly in their biscuit-
flour from the atypically strong Pioneer 25R26 would have been baking functionality, depending on which particular mill streams
assigned an LA SRC value of about 145, whereas a 100% flour have been left in or out. SRC mill-stream testing is a unique way
from the soft but not strong Ohio SRW would have been assigned to determine which specific individual later mill streams should
an LA SRC value of about 75. be left in and which should be excluded to produce the best-qual-
The concept of bad P, introduced in the context of Figure 3, ity flour at the lowest practical cost.
was applied in Table I to describe the (estimated) individual
contributions to Pmax from damaged starch and water-soluble SRC Results for Flour Blends or Flours from Blended Wheats
pentosans and was expanded to include the complementary con- As mentioned earlier, for flours produced from blends of wheats
cept of good P contributed by gluten (as necessary strength for or flours, each SRC value equates to the mathematical, linearly
cracker making). All four flours in Table I had the same overall proportional, weighted average of the corresponding SRC values
Pmax value of 36 (gold standard) and the same excellent water for the 100% flours from each individual wheat in the blend. This
SRC value of 53, but each Pmax of 36 was built from different fact has enabled certain commercial wheat-milling operations to
proportions of estimated good P and bad P, corresponding to the use SRC testing as a basis for blending different wheat cultivars
different wheat-blend proportions of Pioneer 25R26 and Ohio to produce consistent, high-quality flours (note especially an out-
SRW. The higher the percentage of Pioneer 25R26 in the blend, standing masters thesis, Haas 2011; Kweon et al 2011a). Illustra-
the higher the proportion of good P from gluten and the lower the tive SRC results are shown in Tables IIIV (Kweon et al 2011a).
proportions of bad P from damaged starch and pentosans. For Table II provides the SRC values for a diverse series of parent
example, at 25% Pioneer 25R26, 18 of 36 would be good P and flours milled from various individual (hard and soft) wheat culti-
only 18 (9 + 9) would be bad P. In contrast, the lower the percent- vars. Table III indicates proportions for specific flour blends (of
age of Pioneer 25R26 in the blend, the lower the proportion of two, four, or five components) created from those parent flours. In

Vol. 88, No. 6, 2011 543

Table IV, the actual measured SRC values for the flour blends in increases flour-slurry viscosity. In contrast, amylopectin is only
Table III are compared with corresponding SRC values calculated released from prime starch during cooking, typically above 80C
from the data in Tables II and III. In Table IV, one can see that the (after second-stage swelling and starch pasting). The Na2CO3
agreement between measured and calculated SRC values is gener- SRC solvent only measures how much amylopectin is released
ally excellent. For measured water SRC values in the range 56.2 from damaged starch, and this quantity is directly related to the
83.0%, the average difference between measured and calculated key functional property of amylopectin, which is viscosity. Thus,
values is 1.5 units. For measured Na2CO3 SRC values in the range the Na2CO3 SRC solvent only measures the important contribu-
79.1117.2%, the average difference between measured and cal- tion of amylopectin from damaged starch, which relates directly
culated values is 3.5 units. For measured LA SRC values in the to flour-slurry viscosity (Slade et al, unpublished data). Use of
range 76.7149.3%, the average difference between measured and the SRC method enables one to learn about the separate func-
calculated values is 1.1 units. And for measured Suc SRC values in tional contributions from damaged starch (Na2CO3 solvent), pen-
the range 101.6134.9%, the average difference between measured tosans (Suc solvent), and gluten (LA solvent) at the same time, so
and calculated values is 2.1 units. The average of those four average that one can know how best to react during flour milling, for
differences is just 2.1%. example, by modifying the wheat blend or the wheat-tempering
conditions or the mill-roll settings. Gentle milling of a wheat on a
SRC as a Method for Measuring the Effect laboratory test mill to 70% flour extraction will enable one to
of Damaged Starch on Flour Functionality measure the best flour SRC pattern for the four solvents that can
It cannot be overemphasized that one of the reasons why the be expected from a given wheat source. Any difference between
SRC method was originally created was because no traditional that pattern and what one would get from commercial-scale
method to estimate damaged starch tells what one needs to know milling would result from tempering conditions, and/or mill-roll
about the effect of damaged starch on flour functionality for bis- settings, and/or flour-extraction rate.
cuit baking. Similarly, the traditional methods based on alveogra-
phy and mixography do not tell what one needs to know about Application of SRC Results to Understand Flour Quality,
glutenin functionality in biscuit baking. As already mentioned, the with a Focus on Gluten Protein Quality and Functionality
problem with traditional alveography and mixography is that all Let us continue to illustrate how one can interpret and apply
three major functional components (damaged starch, pentosans, SRC results to better understand overall flour quality, which is the
and gluten) of a flour at room temperature contribute simultane- combination of flour performance and conformance capabilities.
ously and in a convoluted fashion to the flours rheological pro- The main point to emphasize here is that different SRC patterns
file. So, when two flours have different profiles, one does not correlate with flours optimally suited for different product appli-
know how to change the wheat feed to the mill, or the wheat-tem- cations, as illustrated in Table V (Kweon et al, previously unpub-
pering process, or the mill-roll settings, because one does not know lished experimental data). The following pattern of all four SRC
which flour components are causing the differences in rheological values was shown earlier for a gold-standard cookie flour: water
profiles. When starch is damaged during flour milling, amylo- SRC, 51%; LA SRC, 87%; Na2CO3 SRC, 64%; and Suc SRC,
pectin becomes functional at room temperature and dramatically 89%. In contrast, the following is the preferred pattern of SRC
values for a stronger cracker flour for sponge-and-dough product
systems (e.g., saltine crackers): water SRC, 57%; LA SRC,
TABLE II 100%; Na2CO3 SRC, 72%; and Suc SRC, 96% (Kweon et al
Solvent Retention Capacity Results for Parent Flours in Flour Blends in press). Table V also shows SRC patterns for various examples
Water Lactic Acid Na2CO3 Sucrose of other actual standard reference flours, including ones used to
Cultivar (%) (%) (%) (%) produce wafers, snack cakes, brownies, soft and moist cookies,
Blanca Grande 86.3 161.8 119.9 136.6 crunchy snacks, bread, shortbread, high-ratio cakes, and pancakes.
Briggs 77.4 136.2 107.2 127.7 Although emphasis has been placed here on the fact that
Eltan 61.0 100.9 85.9 114.6 individual solution SRC values provide functionality information,
Jagalene 72.6 123.8 95.3 116.0 not obtainable from any other method of flour quality analysis, on
McNeal 89.4 153.3 126.0 141.7 individual functional components in flour, it should also be noted
Mountral 59.7 76.1 69.1 76.6
Nopro 79.0 129.1 113.5 124.1
Patterson 52.2 71.2 73.5 97.2 TABLE IV
Reeder 78.9 145.0 111.7 131.0 Calculated and Measured Solvent Retention Capacity (SRC) Values
Roane 59.4 91.7 87.8 108.7 for the Flour Blends in Table III
Stephens 62.0 84.0 86.6 113.1
Tam110 84.7 147.3 128.0 145.0 Flour Water (%) Lactic Acid (%) Na2CO3 (%) Sucrose (%)
Calculated SRC
TABLE III Blend 1 72.0 121.2 100.4 121.8
Formulas for Flour Blends Blend 2 81.9 137.9 116.4 133.4
Blend 3 84.2 149.1 118.9 136.4
Flour Blend Blend 4 70.5 106.6 100.0 118.6
Cultivar 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Blend 5 72.0 119.5 107.9 126.9
Blend 6 69.3 113.5 93.5 110.4
Blanca Grande 25 Blend 7 57.1 77.6 80.0 105.1
Briggs 20 Blend 8 66.5 100.5 91.8 117.7
Eltan 20
Measured SRC
Jagalene 20
McNeal 20 75 50 25 Blend 1 70.1 120.7 97.4 121.9
Mountral 25 Blend 2 79.6 139.0 111.7 134.7
Nopro 50 Blend 3 83.0 149.3 117.2 134.9
Patterson 25 50 Blend 4 69.4 107.2 97.9 117.1
Reeder 50 25 Blend 5 70.1 116.5 102.5 125.7
Roane 20 25 50 Blend 6 66.5 113.1 86.4 105.5
Stephens 50 50 75 Blend 7 56.2 76.7 79.1 101.6
Tam110 50 Blend 8 66.7 102.2 94.5 120.3

544 CEREAL CHEMISTRY

that all the individual SRC values are convoluted with one an- practice method for evaluating the variable baking functionality
other, because all the SRC solutions are water-based solvents. To of flour-supplementing vital wheat gluten (VWG) commercial
deconvolute the contribution to flour strength by gluten from ingredients, many of which have been shown (Hay and Every
functional contributions resulting from damaged starch and arabi- 1990) to be prone to loss of baking quality, resulting from heat
noxylans, Slade conceived a new predictive SRC parameter, the damage suffered during commercial gluten isolation and drying
gluten performance index (GPI), defined as GPI = LA/(Na2CO3 + processes. But previous literature methods (e.g., Hay and Every
Suc) SRC values, to describe the overall performance capability 1990) for evaluating VWG functionality have been based on the
of glutenin in the environment of other modulating networks. As composition of residual undamaged gluten proteins, such as the
subsequently reported in Kweon et al (2009a, 2009d), as flour solubility of acid-soluble glutenins. However, the quality of VWG
extraction increased, this ratio increased for about a third of the depends on the detrimental presence of entrained arabinoxylans
range in flour yield, then decreased sharply as LA SRC declined and damaged starch, as well as on the state of the gluten proteins,
and damaged starch, as measured by Na2CO3 SRC, increased. especially the low-MW glutenins. For commercial baking appli-
With increasing extent of flour chlorination, the GPI decreased cations (e.g., bread making), one needs to test the functional ef-
significantly, and this effect on the GPI was greater when the fect of VWG sample supplementation to a standard known test
milling yield (defined as lb of flour/lb of wheat) decreased from flour. Via SRC four-solvent testing, similar to that described ear-
74 to 55%, as demonstrated by mixography results. lier for flour mill-stream analysis, the four SRC values for 5.0 g
Long ago, Finney and Barmore (1948) demonstrated conclu- of a standard bread flour (with a previously established, desirable
sively that, when flour was milled from an unidentified blend of SRC pattern) can be compared and contrasted with the corre-
wheat varieties, there was no relationship between protein content sponding SRC values for 4.5 g of the bread flour premixed to
and flour performance. Even for a single wheat, milled to differ- uniformity with 0.5 g of each VWG ingredient. The VWG with
ent extents of extraction, there was no relationship between pro- the best baking quality at the most cost-effective price would be
tein content and flour performance. Finney and Barmores classic the ingredient that, at a 10% (by weight) substitution level, pro-
study on bread baking showed that duces the greatest increasing effect on the GPI of the standard
the relationship between loaf volume and flour protein for each bread flour.
variety [of HRW and HRS wheat] was linear within the limits Building on the critical conclusion about gluten quality stated
of protein encountered, approximately 8.518%. Regression previously, Figure 4 (Kweon et al in press) shows the supplemen-
lines for loaf volume vs. protein content for any variety were tal diagnostic solvents that have been identified and developed
similar for four crop years, indicating that the bread-baking again based on enhanced component-polymer solubility and sol-
quality of each variety was essentially the same in different vent compatibility, resulting in exaggerated component-polymer
years. Again, the level and slope of the regression lines for loaf swellingfor an extended, more research-oriented SRC method
volume on protein content for the varieties differed significant- for flour glutens and gluten components. Going beyond the 5%
ly, indicating differences between varieties in protein quality. aqueous LA solution used to assess basic glutenin functionality in
In other words, at a given protein content, flour performance, in the standard SRC method (AACC International Approved Method
terms of baked loaf volume for bread, could not be predicted from 56-11.02), the following four solvents have been used in our labo-
wheat type, when comparing HRW and HRS wheat flours. Thus, ratory (Slade et al, unpublished data) to assess the functionality of
it was demonstrated for the first time, and remains so today, even gluten as a whole and that of individual gluten components: a
though it is frequently forgotten, overlooked, or ignored, that 0.006% w/w aqueous solution of sodium metabisulfite (NaMBS)
flour protein quality does not equate to flour protein quantity, and for gluten (overall strength); a 0.75% w/w aqueous solution of
it is protein quality (i.e., gluten quality), not quantity, that deter- sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) for glutenin macropolymer (GMP);
mines flour functionality and performance in baking applications an aqueous solution of 0.75% w/w SDS and 0.006% NaMBS for
such as crackers and bread (Slade et al 1989; Levine and Slade GMP without any disulfide network; and a 55% v/v aqueous solu-
1990; Slade and Levine 1994). tion of ethanol for gliadins, which are globular proteins at room
Continuing with the theme of gluten protein quality, mention is temperature and do not form three-dimensional networks. The
warranted of the utility of SRC four-solvent testing as a new best 55% ethanol solvent requires some explaining, because although

TABLE V
Typical Solvent Retention Capacity (SRC) Results for Some Standard Reference Flour Typesa
Flour Water (%) Lactic Acid (%) Na2CO3 (%) Sucrose (%) Overall Flour Quality
Gold Standard Targets
Cookie and cracker 51 87 64 89
Sponge-and-dough products 57 100 72 96
Reference Flour Examples
Ohio SRW:Kansas HRW (80:20) 51 87 64 89 Excellent eastern cookie and cracker
PNW SW and PNW HRW blend 55 83 77 108 Poor West Coast cookie and cracker
Ohio SRW:Kansas HRW (<80:>20) 57 100 72 96 Excellent eastern sponge and dough
Eastern SRW, pH 6.3 53 92 71 92 Wafers
Chlorinated SRW 51 67 70 100 Snack cakes, brownies, and soft and moist cookies
Ohio SRW with 1B/1R 54 68 70 93 Ohio SRW with rye-gene translocation
North Dakota patent durum 54 91 93 109 Crunchy snacks
Canada HRS 73 148 91 115 Blending flour for increased bread loaf volume
Ontario SWW 48 85 64 93 Problematic for shortbread production
Ontario SWW 48 81 62 86 Excellent for shortbread production
Ohio SRW:Kansas HRW (80:20) 52 79 68 94 Poor for cookies and crackers; milling extraction too high
Chlorinated SRW, pH 4.6b 53 73 65 86 Excellent for high-ratio cakes
Chlorinated SRW, pH 5.1c 55 76 73 109 Excellent for pancakes
a SRW = soft red winter; HRW = hard red winter; HRS = hard red spring; SW = soft white; SWW = soft white winter; and PNW = Pacific Northwest.
b Extensively chlorinated to decrease lactic acid SRC.
c Slightly chlorinated to increase sucrose SRC.

Vol. 88, No. 6, 2011 545

aqueous ethanol is a gliadin solvent, it is not an SRC diagnostic Method 10-53.01 (Kweon et al in press), made with each of the
solvent. First, it should be noted that 55% v/v ethanol, not 70% aforementioned flours and quantified at the bottom right of the
v/v ethanol, is the optimum solvent for gliadins. But, as described figure. Those results demonstrated conclusively that the individ-
earlier, SRC technology is based on a polymer science method for ual flour SRC patterns correctly predicted each flours cookie-
swelling networks, not on extraction of solutes into a supernatant. baking pattern: the biscuit flour (softest and not very strong)
If a solute is too dilute, even network-forming polymers can be produced cookies with the largest diameter, smallest stack
extracted into a supernatant, but at the correct (5:1 w/w) sol- height, and lowest moisture content (determined as % weight
vent:solute (i.e., flour) ratio of the SRC method, network-forming loss during baking). The pastry flour (not quite as soft but even
polymers are solvent-accessible but not solvent-extractable and weaker) produced cookies with slightly smaller diameter,
create a swelled, solvent-holding network that supports itself slightly larger stack height, and slightly higher moisture content.
against the shrinking or collapsing force of 1,000 g centrifuga- Whitebird flour (harder and stronger) produced cookies with
tion. In contrast, for globular gliadins, which do not create net- significantly smaller diameter, significantly larger stack height,
works and for which 5:1 solvent:flour is still a solvent-extractable and significantly higher moisture content. Finally, the bleached
condition, aqueous ethanol is an extraction solvent, resulting in pastry flour (weakened gluten and pasteable starch) produced
measurable (by Kjeldahl analysis) loss of protein to the super- cookies with the smallest diameter, largest stack height, and
natant in SRC testing. Moreover, aqueous ethanol is a deswelling highest moisture content, because the predominant feature of
solvent for damaged starch (Mercier 1977; Swennen et al 2005) this flours baking performance was starch pasting (i.e., second-
and arabinoxylans (Graveland et al 1985; Swennen et al 2005), stage swelling [Slade and Levine 1987]), made possible by the
which may be observed as a decreased SRC pellet weight. This effect of the chlorination treatment on the wheat flour starch.
expanded, second-generation SRC method continues to be under Cookie lengths and widths (measured as diameters, in the direc-
further development, for potential future implementation as an- tion and perpendicular to the direction, respectively, of the roll-
other AACC International Approved Method. ing of the dough) were negatively correlated with cookie height.
It could be inferred from those results that a flours LA SRC
SRC Patterns Relate to Biscuit-Baking Performance value predicts cookie dough snap-back and height creation and
Figure 5 (Kweon et al in press) illustrates the fundamental and retention during baking, and that lateral creep of a cookie dough
predictive relationship between flour functionality (i.e., the pat- during baking is related more to a flours Suc SRC and Na2CO3
tern of SRC values) and baking performance (i.e., the pattern of SRC values (Slade et al 1993b; Kweon et al in press). Thus, not
formula, process, and finished product, including the products only are flour SRC patterns uniquely predictive of cookie-bak-
properties of geometry, topography, color, pH, texture, and shelf ing performance, as related to the pattern of process and product
life). This figure emphasizes the fact that, although each of the responses, but they can also be used to make recommendations
three individual diagnostic SRC solvents reflects the functional about formula and process modifications to satisfy system end-
contribution from its corresponding individual flour component, use requirements.
only the pattern of all four SRC values reveals overall flour func-
tionality (Haynes et al 2009; Kweon et al 2011a, 2011b). Such Applications of SRC Testing
different SRC patterns, which are characteristic of different types by Wheat Breeders, Millers, and Bakers
of soft wheat flours, are shown at the upper left and quantified Evaluations of flour functionality, for the purposes of determin-
at the bottom left in Figure 5. These SRC patterns allowed the ing performance and conformance capabilities, aim to identify
four flours shown to be characterized as follows: a softest and flour components responsible for quality variations and lot-to-
not very strong SRW-based biscuit flour, a not quite as soft but lot and vendor-to-vendor variations, and to monitor critical varia-
even weaker pastry flour milled from 100% SRW, a harder and bility and predict its impact on baking performance. As men-
stronger flour from a Pacific Northwest SWW cultivar named tioned earlier, the SRC method has been increasingly used by
Whitebird, and a bleached (to pH 4.6) pastry flour that had weak- wheat breeders, millers, and bakers, as well as by cereal and
ened gluten and pasteable starch. The key finding confirmed by other research scientists (Pareyt et al 2008; Linlaud et al 2009;
Figure 5 is illustrated by the baking patterns shown by wire- Kongraksawech et al 2010; Pareyt 2010; Duyvejonck et al 2011a,
cut cookies, prepared following AACC International Approved 2011b; Jazaeri et al 2011; Moses and Dogan 2011), and the rela-
tionships between flour SRC profiles and finished-product quality
(e.g., for cookies, crackers, cakes, noodles, and breads) have re-
cently been widely reported and discussed (Slade and Levine
1994; Guttieri et al 2001, 2002, 2004; Bettge et al 2002; Guttieri
and Souza 2003; Gaines 2004; Ram and Singh 2004; Ram et al
2005; Roccia et al 2006; Xiao et al 2006; Barrera et al 2007; Fus-
tier et al 2007; Zhang et al 2007, 2008; Colombo et al 2008;
Tanhehco and Ng 2008; Walker et al 2008; Kweon et al 2009a,
2009b, 2009d, 2011a, 2011b, in press; Nishio et al 2009, 2011;
Pasha et al 2009; Nakamura et al 2010; Oliete et al 2010; Zimeri
2010; Haas 2011). Many of these researchersand many of those
publicationshave successfully applied SRC testing to (both soft
and hard) wheat-breeding programs and to milling- and baking-
quality evaluations for soft and hard wheat, triticale (wheat-rye
cross), and rye flours. Bettge et al (2002; Ross and Bettge 2009)
at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Ser-
vice (USDA-ARS) Western Wheat Quality Lab in Pullman, Wash-
ington, Gaines (2004) at the USDA-ARS Soft Wheat Quality
Laboratory (SWQL) in Wooster, Ohio, and Guttieri et al (2001,
Fig. 4. Supplemental diagnostic solvents for an extended, research- 2002, 2004, 2008, 2011; Fritz 1999; Guttieri and Souza 2003;
oriented solvent retention capacity method for flour glutens and gluten Souza et al 2008) at the University of Idaho-Aberdeen and later
components (Kweon et al in press). SDS = sodium dodecyl sulfate; at the USDA-ARS SWQL were among the earliest adopters of
GMP = glutenin macropolymer; and MBS = metabisulfite. Slades SRC method.

546 CEREAL CHEMISTRY

SRC Results as a Guide in Breeding Development mercially released in 2005 (Kidwell et al 2006), whose breeding
Bettge et al (2002) modified the standard SRC method (5.0 g of development by Dr. Kim Kidwell at Washington State University
flour) to a small-scale SRC test using just 0.2 g of flour and re- was guided by the new SRC flour-quality testing methodology
ported that wheat cultivars with SRC values at the extremes of the (Walker et al 2008) that Slade created at Nabisco in 1988.
distribution were in the same ranked order for both the small- and Kidwell named Louise wheat in honor of Dr. Louise Slade,
large-scale SRC test results. They concluded that use of the small- Nabisco Research Fellow, for the extraordinary contributions she
scale SRC technique made it possible to evaluate early-generation has made to the advancement of cereal chemistry, which have
wheat-breeding materials for advancing promising germplasm or greatly expanded our understanding of and ability to improve the
eliminating inferior germplasm. Guttieri et al (2001) reported that baking quality of soft wheat.
SRC results for 26 flour samples, milled from soft white spring
(SWS) wheat genotypes grown in seven irrigated environments in Predictive Relationships Between Flour SRC Profiles
Idaho, effectively differentiated genotypes into different end-use and Quality of Cookies and Other Baked Products
quality groups with very limited genotype-environment interac- Guttieri et al (2004) showed that a combination of Na2CO3
tion. For two SWS wheat cultivars grown in rain-fed and irrigated SRC and SDS sedimentation volume analyses of wheat meal
conditions, genotype differences were more important than crop could be used for selecting toward target flour SRC profiles, in-
irrigation and fertility management treatments, and genotype creased flour extraction, and larger sugar-snap cookie diameter in
environment interactions were negligible, as observed with SRC soft wheats, and that increasing Na2CO3 SRC value was corre-
(Guttieri et al 2002). Guttieri and Souza (2003) reported that the lated with decreasing cookie diameter. Gaines (2004) reported a
standardized variance of genotypes in SRC values obtained for prediction equation for sugar-snap cookie diameter, with inde-
three SWS wheat populations ranged from 0.67 to 0.97 of the pendent variables for Suc SRC, wheat-milling softness, and flour
total variance, and thus importantly, that milling and baking qual- protein content, obtained from data for 507 wheat flour samples.
ity could be improved through manipulation of flour components He showed that Suc SRC results could be used reliably to predict
using SRC selection in a breeding program. Ram et al (2005) sugar-snap cookie diameter; increasing Suc SRC correlated with
reported the application of SRC testing for predicting mixing decreasing cookie diameter. Ram and Singh (2004) reported SRC
properties of wheat flours from 192 genotypes and showed a analyses linked to cookie-making quality data for 92 wheat geno-
strong positive correlation between flour SRC profile and farino- types in India and found that a whole-meal SRC test could be
graph water absorption (FWA), the latter governed mainly by dam- used in screening recombinant lines and in selecting desirable
aged starch and pentosan contents of a given flour. They concluded genotypes for making crosses to enhance cookie-making quality.
that whole-meal SRC values, together with grain protein content, Zhang et al (2007, 2008) evaluated numerous Chinese soft wheat
could be used to screen early-generation lines for FWA and thus genotypes grown at three locations and reported that Suc SRC
that the high correlations observed between SRCs and functional values could be used as indirect wheat-selection criteria to predict
properties including water absorption have obvious implications in sugar-snap cookie diameter and quality. Pasha et al (2009) re-
breeding programs for the improvement of wheat cultivars. ported that the SRC test is useful to measure flour components
Special mention is warranted here of Louise wheat, a new contributing to end-use functionality, especially where the sample
high-quality, biscuit-friendly Washington SWS wheat cultivar com- number is large and grain quantities are limited. They found that

Fig. 5. Illustration of the predictive relationship between flour functionality (= the pattern of solvent retention capacity [SRC] values) and baking per-
formance (= the pattern of formula, process, and product) (Kweon et al in press).

Vol. 88, No. 6, 2011 547

decreasing cookie diameter and spread ratio correlated with Qian et al 2005; Zhang et al 2005, 2009; Chen 2006; Gao et al
increasing LA and Na2CO3 SRC values, whereas increasing 2006; Ni et al 2006; Luo et al 2007; Zhou et al 2007; Xia et al
cookie thickness correlated with increasing LA and Suc SRC 2008a, 2008b; Zhao et al 2008; Yao et al 2010). In many of these
values. From such results, they concluded that the SRC test is a cited reports, SRC flour technology (AACC International Ap-
promising method for the evaluation of soft wheat varieties on the proved Method 56-11.02) was used to analyze hundreds of breed-
basis of their biochemical characteristics. Fustier et al (2007) ing lines of Chinese soft and hard wheats. SRC results were
used SRC testing to assess the semisweet biscuit-making potential shown to be accurately and highly correlated with pentosans con-
of soft wheat flours and selected mill streams and found correla- tent, grain hardness (Zhao et al 2008), flour particle size, and
tions between SRC values and biscuit quality characteristics. mixograph parameters, for both soft and hard wheats. SRC is a
Nishio et al (2009, 2011) reported, for eight types of near-iso- new method for evaluating wheat qualities, which can be directly
genic soft wheat lines developed from cultivar Norin 61 and used for early generation selection in breeding programs (Qian et
grown in different environments, a high correlation of water SRC al 2005). Xia et al (2008a) showed that SRC results correlated
values with amylose content, sugar-snap cookie diameter, and strongly for wheats from different Chinese geographic growing
Japanese sponge cake volume, such that amylose content can be regions. SRC results were shown to correlate with kernel hard-
accurately estimated from the water SRC within samples from the ness, puroindoline type, wheat hardness type, and Chinese geo-
same growing environment (2011). In another study involving graphic growing region (This studyprovided useful informa-
prediction of Japanese sponge cake volume, Nakamura et al tion for improving Chinese wheat hardness and in the application
(2010) evaluated 20 soft wheat flour samples by SRC and found of SRC at early generation selection in wheat breeding program
that the variability in batter pasting viscosity, related to cake [Chen et al 2005]). Chen (2006) showed that SRC values corre-
batter expansion, was highly explained by Suc SRC. Roccia et al lated with kernel hardness and flour particle size. SRC values
(2006) reported that SRC testing could be used for evaluating the were also highly correlated with cookie diameter and other qual-
cookie-baking quality of triticale flours; SRC results for 25 triti- ity parameters (Zhang et al 2005; Luo et al 2007; Yao et al 2010).
cale flours showed generally higher water and Na2CO3, similar Ni et al (2006) reported a correlation between SRC values and
Suc, and lower LA SRC values than previously published SRC wheat flour starch quality properties. SRC results were highly
results for typical cookie flours from soft wheats. In a follow-up correlated with wheat protein quality, water absorption properties
study, Barrera et al (2007) used SRC testing to study the influence (Zhao et al 2008), starch quality, and dough rheology characteris-
of damaged starch on the cookie- and bread-making quality of tics (Gao et al 2006). Zhou et al (2007) showed that SRC values
several wheat and triticale flours. And in another follow-up study, correlated with micro-SRC results for various soft wheat flours.
Oliete et al (2010) used SRC as a predictive functional test for Xia et al (2008b) showed that SRC results correlated with wheat
selected soft wheat, rye, and triticale flours, and they showed that genotype and environmental effects. Finally, Zhang et al (2009)
all three flour types could be used to produce high-quality layer reported the relationship between SRC values and heritable grain
cakes, albeit with differences in cake characteristics. hardness, gluten strength, and water retention properties of soft
wheat flours.
SRC Testing of Flours for Bread Making
As summarized previously, SRC testing has been used to date Application of SRC Testing to Industrial Wheat Milling
mainly for evaluating soft wheat flour quality. Nevertheless, Xiao With regard to the application of SRC testing to wheat milling,
et al (2006) were the first to publish an application of SRC testing the effect of tempering conditions on milling and flour quality has
for the evaluation of hard winter wheat (HWW) quality for bread been determined using SRC (Kweon et al 2009a). Kweon et al
making. They showed that LA SRC correlated with the quality of suggested that millers seeking to elevate gluten strength while
gluten protein relating to baked loaf volume over a wide range of minimizing overall water absorption could use tempering as a tool
flour protein contents. They also reported that their LA SRC re- to manipulate the proportions of functional flour components, on
sults were significantly correlated with SDS-sedimentation vol- the basis of SRC results. SRC data also demonstrated the effect
ume data and that the SRC test was reliable in predicting the loaf of extraction rate on flour quality, such that straight-grade flour
volume of breads for HWW flours with similar protein contents. (74% milling yield) showed higher water, Na2CO3, and Suc SRC
Colombo et al (2008) reported a study on the use of SRC testing values but a lower LA SRC value than for low-extraction flour
for quality prediction of different Argentinean wheat flours used (55% milling yield) (Kweon et al 2009d). Souza et al (2008) and
for bread or cookie production. Their results showed a negative Guttieri et al (2011) used SRC testing, coupled with wire-cut
correlation between cookie-baking quality and Suc, Na2CO3, and cookie-baking results, to evaluate and compare different experi-
water SRC values and a positive correlation between bread loaf mental laboratory flour-milling methods.
volume and LA SRC. They concluded that the SRC test allowed In the context of flour conformance, which is a critical require-
straight[forward] assessment of the bread and cookie quality of ment for industrial milling and baking, SRC testing has been suc-
Argentinean wheat. Duyvejonck et al (2011a, 2011b) recently cessfully used as a unique tool to guarantee flour consistency
reported studies on the relative contributions of wheat flour con- during the annual summertime changeover from old-crop to new-
stituents to SRC profiles for 19 commercial European wheat crop flour. When a new-crop wheat blend is deliberately created,
flours. Their results indicate[d] that the SRC method holds such that all four SRC values for the resulting new-crop flour
promise for the evaluation of flour functionality of European match the current SRC pattern for the existing old-crop flour, the
wheat flours for both bread- and cookie-making applications in-bakery process and product changeover from old crop to new
(2011b) and that SRC values are good, time-efficient, and simple crop becomes totally transparent and issue-free.
cookie and bread quality predictors for European commercial
wheat flours (2011a). In our laboratories, SRC testing has also SRC Testing and Cookie Baking
been applied to evaluating the functionality of durum and HRW/ With regard to the application of SRC testing to cookie baking
HRS flours for pasta and pizza production, respectively. (Kweon et al in press), flour functionality for cookies requires
low water absorption (low water SRC), because a lower amount
Applications of SRC Technology to Wheat Breeding in China of water necessary to make a machinable dough can be more eas-
Another special mention is warranted here, this one of the ily removed during baking, resulting in a lower-moisture cookie
enthusiastic adoption of SRC technology by numerous Chinese with extended shelf life. Lesser functional contributions from
wheat-breeding researchers in recent years, as reported in various damaged starch and glutenin (low Na2CO3 and LA SRC values)
Chinese-language journal articles and theses (Chen et al 2005; result in prevention of network formation during dough mixing

548 CEREAL CHEMISTRY

and baking, which leads to facilitated collapse of cookie structure, cracker baking. Use of -amylase and arabinoxylanase dem-
yielding cookies with larger diameter and thinner height (Slade et onstrated the improving effects of such enzymes on a flours
al 1993b). As discussed earlier, solvent-accessible arabinoxylans cracker-baking performance, resulting from decreased dough
are a critically detrimental functional component of cookie flour; crumbliness and leading to increased cracker stack height, espe-
they contribute, as reflected by Suc SRC, to undesirable water cially because of the significant decrease in water SRC resulting
retention in traditional low-moisture cookies (Levine and Slade from the arabinoxylanase treatment, which eliminated the cracker
2004). Thus, a flour with higher Suc SRC is inferior for cookie spring-inhibiting effect of the highly water-holding arabinoxy-
baking (Guttieri et al 2008), resulting in lower weight loss during lan network during baking (Levine and Slade 2004; Kweon et al
baking, higher finished-product moisture content, and reduced in press).
shelf life (Kweon et al in press). From our recent studies on sugar
functionality in cookie baking (Kweon et al 2009b, 2009c, 2009e, SRC Testing of Chlorinated Cake Flours
in press), we found that some sugars other than Suc (e.g., ribose Chlorination is an essential treatment of soft wheat flours to be
and xylose) exaggerated the swelling of solvent-accessible arabi- used for production of high-ratio cakes in the United States. A
noxylans (because of enhanced plasticization, as manifested by critical factor in high-ratio cake baking is batter viscosity (Huang
higher SRC values in ribose and xylose solutions [Table VI]) in a et al 1982). Kweon et al (2009d) explored the effects of extent of
representative SRW cookie flour even more than did Suc, thus chlorination, extraction rate, and particle-size reduction on flour
worsening the detrimental effect of arabinoxylans on cookie bak- functionality through SRC testing on a representative SRW wheat
ing. As a result, wire-cut cookies formulated with ribose or xylose cultivar, Croplan 594W. SRC results revealed not only the dra-
in place of Suc (in the AACC 10-53.01 formula) showed higher matic effects of milling-extraction rate and extent of chlorination
finished-product moisture contents, smaller diameters, and greater but also the less significant effect of additional milling to reduce
stack heights. Examination of all the data for the entire series of flour particle size. SRC analysis showed increases in water,
sugars in Table VI reveals that there is not a straightforward over- Na2CO3, and Suc SRC values but a decrease in LA SRC value
all correlation among increasing SRC value, decreasing weight with increasing extent of chlorination. Oxidative gelation of arabi-
loss during baking, decreasing cookie length and width, and in- noxylans in chlorinated flour samples was also explored, using
creasing cookie height. Evidently, other factors are also at work, Bostwick viscosity (related to cake-batter viscosity) and SRC
and more research in this area is needed, especially since Suc testing (Kweon et al 2009b). Suc SRC was shown to be a power-
replacement or reduction in cookies is a topical subject in the ful predictor of the functional effects resulting from extensive
field of health and nutrition (Kweon et al 2009c, 2009e; Pareyt et chlorination (to pH 4.6) of soft wheat cake flours, and especially
al 2011). from the predisposition for oxidative arabinoxylan gels during
heavy chlorination. LA SRC was also a revealing indicator of the
SRC Testing and Cracker Baking effect of the extent of chlorination for lightly chlorinated (to pH
With regard to the application of SRC testing to cracker baking >5.0) flours, by reflecting the diminished capacity to form glu-
(Kweon et al 2011a, 2011b), relatively high gluten strength is tenin networks. Moreover, these SRC responses provided a more
required in a high-quality cracker flour, because the lower total reliable predictor of the functional effects brought about by a
solvent level and sugar concentration (%S) (Slade et al 1993b) in given extent of chlorination than did the traditional measurement
a typical cracker-dough formula (Kweon et al in press) enable of flour pH, because the increase in Suc SRC and decrease in LA
gluten development during dough mixing and subsequent oven SRC with increasing extent of chlorination were not linearly
spring during cracker baking. Whereas LA SRC reflects a cracker correlated with decreasing flour pH; they also provided a func-
flours general gluten functionality, overall cracker-flour quality is tional alternative to the analytical measurement of chlorine up-
related to all three functional flour components. Thus, ones focus take. SRC results provided a basis for explaining why flour pH
should be on a flours entire SRC pattern when considering end- <<5.0 is necessary for cake-baking functionality, independent of
use applications involving cracker making. In our recent work on starch-pasting functionality (Kweon et al 2009b, 2009d).
the development of a benchtop baking method for chemically
leavened crackers (Kweon et al 2011a, 2011b), various flour sam- Flour SRC Results for Pancakes and
ples covering a broad range of gluten strengths were tested, and Other Batter-Based Products
the GPI was found to be a better predictor of a flours cracker- Pancakes and wafers are soft wheat flour products baked from
baking performance than was gluten functionality (LA SRC) alone. fluid batters (Kweon et al 2010). Batter viscosity is directly re-
Moreover, flours with GPI < 0.52 produced blistering during lated to finished-product quality, and controlling batter viscosity
is key to producing consistent products and to ensuring smooth
and efficient processing. Among the flour functional components,
TABLE VI solvent-accessible arabinoxylans and glutenins contribute signifi-
Solvent Retention Capacity (SRC) and Wire-Cut Cookie-Baking Data
for Croplan 594W Soft Red Winter Wheat Flour
cantly to batter viscosity. If a pancake batter is too thick, pancakes
of much smaller diameter and greater height would result, com-
Cookie Geometry pared with product of optimum geometry. In contrast, if a pan-
Sugar
a (1 piece, cm) cake batter is too thin, pancakes of much larger diameter and
SRC Weight Loss
Sugar (%) During Baking (%) Width Length Height smaller height would result, compared with product of optimum
Xylitolb 73 10.29 7.06 6.94 1.43 geometry. Consequently, as illustrated by the results for correla-
Lactitolb 74 13.72 7.82 7.93 0.92
Maltitolb 76 13.15 7.85 8.03 0.93
Sucrosec 83 12.94 7.95 7.95 1.01 TABLE VII
Glucosec 82 8.63 6.82 6.25 1.77 Correlations of Flour Solvent Retention Capacity with Pancake Results
Polydextroseb 83 13.51 7.64 7.90 0.91 (for Unchlorinated Flours from 15 Wheat Cultivars)a
Fructosec 85 10.76 7.14 7.09 1.53
Pancake Variable Water Lactic Acid Na2CO3 Sucrose
Tagatoseb 86 10.14 6.84 6.70 1.53
Xylosec 91 8.59 6.50 5.90 2.35 Flow distance 0.63* 0.74** 0.72** 0.72**
Riboseb 99 10.55 6.88 6.55 1.63 Diameter 0.63* 0.73** 0.76*** 0.77***
a Height 0.65** 0.78*** 0.80*** 0.80***
SRC for Croplan 594W flour in 50% w/w sugar solution.
b Used previously for cookie baking, as reported in Kweon et al (2009c). a *, **, and *** indicate correlations (r) significant at P < 0.05, 0.01, and
c Used previously for cookie baking, as reported in Kweon et al (2009e). 0.001, respectively.

Vol. 88, No. 6, 2011 549

tions between flour SRC values and pancake attributes, shown in retention capacity. Sci. Agric. Sin. 38:2173-2181.
Table VII (Kweon et al 2010), preferred flours for producing opti- Colombo, A., Prez, G., Ribotta, P., and Len, A. 2008. A comparative
mal pancakes would be unchlorinated and would evidence a study of physicochemical tests for quality prediction of Argentine
significant presence of solvent-accessible arabinoxylans and glu- wheat flours used as corrector flours and for cookie production. J. Ce-
real Sci. 48:775-780.
tenins, resulting in pancakes with greater height and larger dia-
Craig, S. A. S., Mathewson, P. R., Otterburn, M. S., Slade, L., Levine, H.,
meter. It is important to point out that all pancake formulas are Deihl, R. T., Beehler, L. R., Verduin, P., and Magliacano, A. M. 1992.
batter-based, but not all batter-based products are pancakes. Thus, Production of crackers with reduced or no added fat. U.S. patent
it is not possible to have one universal method for all batter-based 5,108,764.
products, because flour functionality changes when formula %S is Dang, J. M. C., and Bason, M. L. 2006. Assessing solvent retention
<30 vs. >30% w/w (Kweon et al in press). Specifically, as noted capacities of flours using the Rapid Visco Analyser. Tech. J. Newport
previously, unchlorinated flour is preferred for %S < 30% formu- Scientific 7, July.
las (e.g., pancakes) (Kweon et al 2010), whereas chlorinated flour Duyvejonck, A. E., Lagrain, B., Courtin, C. M., and Delcour, J. A. 2011a.
is preferred for %S > 30% formulas (e.g., many cakes) (Kweon et Suitability of solvent retention capacity test methodologies for Euro-
al 2009b, 2009d). SRC results support baking-data evidence for pean wheat flours. (Abstr.) Cereal Foods World 56(S4):A19.
Duyvejonck, A., Lagrain, B., Pareyt, B., Courtin, C., and Delcour, J. 2011b.
selection of flours for %S below or above 30% for batter-based Relative contribution of wheat flour constituents to solvent retention
products such as pancakes and cakes. capacity profiles of European wheats. J. Cereal Sci. 53:312-318.
Faridi, H., and Rasper, V. F. 1987. The Alveograph Handbook. Am.
CONCLUSION Assoc. Cereal Chem.: St. Paul, MN.
Finney, K. F., and Barmore, M. A. 1948. Loaf volume and protein content
SRC technology, its history, principles, and applications have of hard winter and spring wheats. Cereal Chem. 25:291-312.
been reviewed. Originally, SRC testing was created and devel- Finney, K. F., and Shogren, M. D. 1972. A ten-gram mixograph for deter-
mining and predicting functional properties of wheat flours. Bakers
oped for evaluating soft wheat flour functionality, but it has also
Dig. 46:32-35, 38-42, 77.
been shown to be applicable to evaluating flour functionality for Finney, K. F., and Yamazaki, W. T. 1946. Water retention capacity as an
hard wheat products. SRC provides a measure of solvent compati- index of the loaf volume potentialities and protein quality of hard red
bility for the three functional polymeric components of flour winter wheats. Cereal Chem. 23:416-427.
gluten, damaged starch, and pentosanswhich in turn enables Finney, K. F., and Yamazaki, W. T. 1953. An alkaline viscosity test for
prediction of the functional contribution of each flour component soft wheat flours. Cereal Chem. 30:153-159.
to overall flour functionality and resulting finished-product qual- Fritz, M. 1999. U of I teams with Nabisco for improved irrigated soft
ity. The pattern of flour SRC values for the four diagnostic SRC white wheats. Growers Guide 16(10):C6.
solvents, rather than any single individual SRC value, has been Fustier, P., Castaigne, F., Turgeon, S., and Biliaderis, C. 2007. Semi-sweet
shown to be critical to various successful end-use applications. biscuit making potential of soft wheat flour patent, middle-cut and
clear mill streams made with native and reconstituted flours. J. Cereal
Moreover, a new predictive SRC parameter, GPI, defined as Sci. 46:119-131.
GPI = LA/(Na2CO3 + Suc) SRC values, has been found to be an Gaines, C. S. 2000. Collaborative study of methods for solvent retention
even better predictor of the overall performance of flour glutenin capacity profiles (AACC method 56-11). Cereal Foods World 45:303-
in the environment of other modulating networks of flour poly- 306.
mers (e.g., in bread [Goesaert et al 2009]). SRC technology is a Gaines, C. S. 2004. Prediction of sugar-snap cookie diameter using su-
unique diagnostic tool for predicting flour functionality, and its crose solvent retention capacity, milling softness, and flour protein
applications in soft wheat breeding, milling, and baking are in- content. Cereal Chem. 81:549-552.
creasing markedly as a consequence of many successful, recently Gao, M., Zhang, G., Ni, F., Luo, Q., Wei, Y., and Zhang, J. 2006. The
published demonstrations of its extraordinary power and scope. relationship between micro-SRC value and wheat quality. J. Northwest
Sci-Tech Univ. Agric. For. 34(12):87-91.
Goesaert, H., Slade, L., Levine, H., and Delcour, J. A. 2009. Amylases
ACKNOWLEDGMENT and bread firmingAn integrated view. J. Cereal Sci. 50:345-352.
Graveland, A., Bosveld, P., Lichtendonk, W., Marseille, J., Moonent, J.,
Louise Slade and Harry Levine are happy to have this opportunity to and Scheepstra, A. 1985. A model for the molecular structure of the
thank AACC International for honoring us in 2008 with its prestigious glutenins from wheat flour. J. Cereal Sci. 3:1-16.
Applied Research Award, for [our] significant body of distinguished Grulke, E. A. 1989. Solubility parameter values. Pages 519-533 in: Poly-
contributions [including our work described in this review] to the appli- mer Handbook, 3rd Ed. G. Brandrup and E. H. Immergut, eds. Wiley:
cation of science in the cereals area. New York.
Guttieri, M. J., and Souza, E. 2003. Sources of variation in the solvent
LITERATURE CITED retention capacity test of wheat flour. Crop Sci. 43:1628-1633.
Guttieri, M. J., Bowen, D., Gannon, D., OBrien, K., and Souza, E. 2001.
AACC International. 2010. Approved Methods of Analysis, 11th Ed. Solvent retention capacities of irrigated soft white spring wheat flours.
Methods 10-53.01, 56-10.02, and 56-11.02. Available online only. Crop Sci. 41:1054-1061.
AACC International: St. Paul, MN. Guttieri, M. J., McLean, R., Lanning, S. P., Talbert, L. E., and Souza, E. J.
Barrera, G. N., Perez, G. T., Ribotta, P. D., and Leon, A. E. 2007. Influ- 2002. Assessing environmental influences on solvent retention capaci-
ence of damaged starch on cookie and bread-making quality. Eur. Food ties of two soft white spring wheat cultivars. Cereal Chem. 79:880-884.
Res. Technol. 225:1-7. Guttieri, M. J., Becker, C., and Souza, E. J. 2004. Application of wheat
Bettge, A. D., Morris, C. F., DeMacon, V. L., and Kidwell, K. K. 2002. meal solvent retention capacity tests within soft wheat breeding popu-
Adaptation of AACC method 56-11, solvent retention capacity, for use lations. Cereal Chem. 81:261-266.
as an early generation selection tool for cultivar development. Cereal Guttieri, M. J., Souza, E. J., and Sneller, C. 2008. Nonstarch polysaccha-
Chem. 79:670-674. rides in wheat flour wire-cut cookie baking. J. Agric. Food Chem.
Bloksma, A. H., and Bushuk, W. 1988. Rheology and chemistry of dough. 56:10927-10932.
Pages 131-217 in: Wheat Chemistry and Technology. Y. Pomeranz, ed. Guttieri, M. J., Souza, E. J., and Sneller, C. 2011. Laboratory milling
Am. Assoc. Cereal Chem.: St. Paul, MN. method for whole grain soft wheat flour evaluation. Cereal Chem.
Chen, F. 2006. Molecular characterization of puroindoline alleles in Chi- 88:1-5.
nese and CIMMYT common wheats and their effect on processing Haas, N. C. 2011. Optimizing wheat blends for customer value creation:
quality. Doctoral dissertation (no. D-68711). Chinese Academy of A special case of solvent retention capacity. Masters thesis. Kansas
Agricultural Sciences. State University: Manhattan, KS.
Chen, F., Qian, S., Zhang, Y., Xia, X., and He, Z. 2005. Distribution of Hay, R. L., and Every, D. 1990. A simple glutenin turbidity test for the de-
puroindoline alleles in Chinese winter wheats and its effects on solvent termination of heat damage in gluten. J. Sci. Food Agric. 53:261-270.

550 CEREAL CHEMISTRY

Haynes, L. C., Bettge, A. D., and Slade, L. 2009. Soft wheat and flour Yamauchi, H., and Miura, H. 2009. Influence of amylose content on
products methods review: Solvent retention capacity equation correc- cookie and sponge cake quality and solvent retention capacities in
tion. Cereal Foods World 54:174-175. wheat flour. Cereal Chem. 86:313-318.
Huang, G., Finn, J. W., and Varriano-Marston, E. 1982. Flour chlorina- Nishio, Z., Miyazaki, Y., Seki, M., Ito, M., Tabiki, T., Nagasawa, K.,
tion. II. Effects on water binding. Cereal Chem. 59:500-506. Yamauchi, H., and Miura, H. 2011. Effect of growing environment of
Jazaeri, S., Kaur Chandi, G., Ragaee, S., and Seetharaman, K. 2011. soft wheat on amylose content and its relationship with cookie and
Difference in gluten aggregation kinetics in flours with similar protein sponge cake quality and solvent retention capacity. (Abstr.) Cereal
content. (Abstr.) Cereal Foods World 56(S4):A46. Foods World 56(S4):A57.
Kidwell, K., Shelton, G., Demacon, V., Burns, J., Carter, B., Chen, X., Oliete, B., Perez, G., Gomez, M., Ribotta, P., Moiraghi, M., and Leon, A.
Morris, C., and Bosque Perez, N. 2006. Registration of Louise wheat. 2010. Use of wheat, triticale and rye flours in layer cake production.
Crop Sci. 46:1384-1386. Int. J. Food Sci. Technol. 45:697-706.
Kongraksawech, T., Ross, A. S., and Ong, Y.-L. 2010. Effect of carbonate Pareyt, B. 2010. Factors governing the quality of sugar-snap cookies:
on co-extraction of arabinoxylans with glutenin macropolymer. Cereal Functionality of wheat constituents, sugar and fat. Doctoral thesis.
Chem. 87:86-88. Katholieke Universiteit Leuven: Leuven, Belgium.
Kweon, M., Martin, R., and Souza, E. 2009a. Effect of tempering condi- Pareyt, B., Wilderjans, E., Goesaert, H., Brijs, K., and Delcour, J. A.
tions on milling performance and flour functionality. Cereal Chem. 2008. The role of gluten in a sugar-snap cookie system: A model ap-
86:12-17. proach based on gluten-starch blends. J. Cereal Sci. 48:863-869.
Kweon, M., Slade, L., and Levine, H. 2009b. Oxidative gelation of sol- Pareyt, B., Goovaerts, M., Broekaert, W., and Delcour, J. 2011. Arabi-
vent-accessible arabinoxylans is the predominant consequence of ex- noxylan oligosaccharides (AXOS) as a potential sucrose replacer in
tensive chlorination of soft wheat flour. Cereal Chem. 86:421-424. sugar-snap cookies. LWT - Food Sci. Technol. 44:725-728.
Kweon, M., Slade, L., and Levine, H. 2009c. Exploration of functionality Pasha, I., Anjum, F., and Butt, M. 2009. Genotypic variation of spring
of low-glycemic-impact sugars and polyols, using SRC, DSC, RVA, wheats for solvent retention capacities in relation to end-use quality.
and cookie baking. Pages 513-528 in: Dietary Fibre: New Frontiers for LWT - Food Sci. Technol. 42:418-423.
Food and Health. J. W. Van Der Kamp et al, eds. Wageningen Aca- Qian, S., He, Z., Zhang, Y., Wang, D., Zhang, Q., and Yao, D. 2005. Varia-
demic Publishers: Wageningen, The Netherlands. tion of pentosans and solvent retention capacities in wheat genotypes
Kweon, M., Slade, L., Levine, H., Martin, R., Andrews, L., and Souza, E. and their relationship with processing quality. Acta Agron. Sin. 31:
2009d. Effects of extent of chlorination, extraction rate, and particle 902-907.
size reduction on flour and gluten functionality explored by solvent re- Ram, S., and Singh, R. P. 2004. Solvent retention capacities of Indian
tention capacity (SRC) and mixograph. Cereal Chem. 86:221-224. wheats and their relationship with cookie-making quality. Cereal
Kweon, M., Slade, L., Levine, H., Martin, R., and Souza, E. 2009e. Chem. 81:128-133.
Exploration of sugar functionality in sugar-snap and wire-cut cookie Ram, S., Dawar, V., Singh, R. P., and Shoran, J. 2005. Application of
baking: Implications for potential sucrose replacement or reduction. solvent retention capacity tests for the prediction of mixing properties
Cereal Chem. 86:425-433. of wheat flour. J. Cereal Sci. 42:261-266.
Kweon, M., Donelson, T., Slade, L., and Levine, H. 2010. Development Rasper, V. F., Hardy, K. M., and Fulcher, G. R. 1985. Constant water
of a standardized, batter-based, pancake-making method. (Abstr.) Ce- content vs. constant consistency techniques in alveography of soft
real Foods World 55(S4):A26. wheat flours. Pages 51-73 in: Rheology of Wheat Products. H. Faridi,
Kweon, M., Slade, L., and Levine, H. 2011a. Development of a benchtop ed. Am. Assoc. Cereal Chem.: St. Paul, MN.
baking method for chemically leavened crackers. I. Identification of a Reiman, W. 1934. Methods for determining the viscosity of flour-in-water
diagnostic formula and procedure. Cereal Chem. 88:19-24. suspensions. Cereal Chem. 11:299-312.
Kweon, M., Slade, L., and Levine, H. 2011b. Development of a benchtop Roccia, P., Moiraghi, M., Ribotta, P. D., Prez, G. T., Rubiolo, O. J., and
baking method for chemically leavened crackers. II. Validation of the Len, A. E. 2006. Use of solvent retention capacity profile to predict
method. Cereal Chem. 88:25-30. the quality of triticale flours. Cereal Chem. 83:243-249.
Kweon, M., Slade, L., Levine, H., and Gannon, D. In press. Cookie vs. Ross, A. S., and Bettge, A. D. 2009. Passing the test on wheat end-use
cracker bakingWhats the difference? Flour functionality require- quality. Pages 455-494 in: Wheat: Science and Trade. B. F. Carver, ed.
ments explored by SRC and alveography. Crit. Rev. Food Sci. Nutr. Wiley: New York.
Levine, H., and Slade, L. 1990. Influences of the glassy and rubbery Sears, J. K., and Darby, J. R. 1982. Solubility parameter and cohesive
states on the thermal, mechanical, and structural properties of doughs energy density. Page 105 in: The Technology of Plasticizers. J. K.
and baked products. Pages 157-330 in: Dough Rheology and Baked Sears and J. R. Darby, eds. Wiley: New York.
Product Texture: Theory and Practice. H. Faridi and J. M. Faubion, Shogren, M. D. 1990. A short history of the mixograph. Cereal Foods
eds. Van Nostrand Reinhold/AVI: New York. World 35:480-482.
Levine, H., and Slade, L. 1993. The glassy state in applications for the Shuey, W. C. 1984. Interpretation of the farinogram. Pages 31-33 in: The
food industry, with an emphasis on cookie and cracker production. Farinograph Handbook, 3rd Ed. B. L. DAppolonia and W. H. Kunerth,
Pages 333-373 in: The Glassy State in Foods. J. M. V. Blanshard and eds. Am. Assoc. Cereal Chem.: St. Paul, MN.
P. J. Lillford, eds. Nottingham University Press: Loughborough, UK. Slade, L., and Levine, H. 1987. Recent advances in starch retrograda-
Levine, H., and Slade, L. 2004. Influence of hydrocolloids in low-mois- tion. Pages 387-430 in: Industrial Polysaccharides. S. S. Stivala, V.
ture foodsA food polymer science approach. Pages 425-436 in: Crescenzi, and I. C. M. Dea, eds. Gordon and Breach Science: New
Gums and Stabilisers for the Food Industry 12. P. A. Williams and York.
G. O. Phillips, eds. Royal Soc. Chem.: Cambridge, UK. Slade, L., and Levine, H. 1988. Non-equilibrium behavior of small carbo-
Linlaud, N. E., Puppo, M. C., and Ferrero, C. 2009. Effect of hydrocol- hydrate systems. Pure Appl. Chem. 60:1841-1864.
loids on water absorption of wheat flour and farinograph and textural Slade, L., and Levine, H. 1991. Beyond water activity: Recent advances
characteristics of dough. Cereal Chem. 86:376:382. based on an alternative approach to the assessment of food quality and
Luo, Q., Zhang, N., and Zhang, G. 2007. The relationship between sol- safety. CRC Crit. Rev. Food Sci. Nutr. 30:115-360.
vent retention capacity characteristic of the soft wheat and the quality Slade, L., and Levine, H. 1994. Structure-function relationships of cookie
of cookie. Grain Processing 32(6):20-24. and cracker ingredients. Pages 23-141 in: The Science of Cookie and
Mercier, C. 1977. Effect of extrusion-cooking on potato starch using a Cracker Production. H. Faridi, ed. Chapman and Hall: New York.
twin-screw French extruder. Starch/Strke 29:48-52. Slade, L., Levine, H., and Finley, J. W. 1989. Protein-water interactions:
Moses, M., and Dogan, H. 2011. Mechanically and thermally treated Water as a plasticizer of gluten and other protein polymers. Pages 9-
functional wheat flours. (Abstr.) Cereal Foods World 56(S4):A22. 124 in: Protein Quality and the Effects of Processing. R. D. Phillips
Nakamura, K., Taniguchi, Y., Taira, M., and Ito, H. 2010. Prediction of and J. W. Finley, eds. Marcel Dekker: New York.
specific Japanese sponge cake volume using pasting properties of flour. Slade, L., Levine, H., Craig, S., Arciszewski, H., and Saunders, S. 1993a.
Cereal Chem. 87:505-510. Enzyme-treated low moisture content comestible products. U.S. patent
Ni, F., Zhang, G., Li, J., Wei, Y., and Zheng, J. 2006. Wheat starch quality 5,200,215.
and affecting factors on the solvent retention capacity. J. Northwest Slade, L., Levine, H., Ievolella, J., and Wang, M. 1993b. The glassy state
Sci-Tech Univ. Agric. For. 34(3):49-54. phenomenon in applications for the food industry: Application of the
Nishio, Z., Oikawa, H., Haneda, T., Seki, M., Ito, M., Tabiki, T., food polymer science approach to structure-function relationships of

Vol. 88, No. 6, 2011 551

 sucrose in cookie and cracker systems. J. Sci. Food Agric. 63:133-176. Yao, J., Souza, E., Ma, H., Zhang, P., Yao, G., Yang, X., Ren, L., and
Slade, L., Levine, H., Craig, S., and Arciszewski, H. 1994. Reducing Zhang, P. 2010. Relationship between quality traits of soft red winter
checking in crackers with pentosanase. U.S. patent 5,362,502. wheat and cookie diameter. Acta Agron. Sin. 36:695-700.
Souza, E. J., Griffey, C., Kweon, M., and Guttieri, M. 2008. Sources of Zhang, P., Yao, J., Ma, Q., and Ma, H. 2009. Inheritance of solvent reten-
variation for long-flow experimental milling. Crop Sci. 48:1432-1440. tion capacity in wheat. J. Triticeae Crops 29(5):793-797.
Swennen, K., Courtin, C. M., Van der Bruggen, B., Vandecasteele, C., and Zhang, Q., Zhang, Y., He, Z., and Pena, R. 2005. Relationship between
Delcour, J. A. 2005. Ultrafiltration and ethanol precipitation for isola- soft wheat quality traits and cookie quality parameters. Acta Agron.
tion of arabino xylooligosaccharides with different structures. Carbo- Sin. 31:1125-1131.
hydr. Polym. 62:283-292. Zhang, Q., Zhang, Y., Zhang, Y., He, Z., and Pena, R. J. 2007. Effects of
Tanhehco, E. J., and Ng, P. K. W. 2008. Soft wheat quality. Pages 1-30 in: solvent retention capacities, pentosan content, and dough rheological
Food Engineering Aspects of Baking Sweet Goods. S. G. Sumnu and properties on sugar snap cookie quality in Chinese soft wheat geno-
S. Sahin, eds. CRC Press: Boca Raton, FL. types. Crop Sci. 47:656-664.
Thurmond, G. I., and Edgar, G. 1924. Equilibrium of lactic acid, lactide Zhang, Y., Zhang, Q., He, Z., Zhang, Y., and Ye, G. 2008. Solvent reten-
and anhydride. J. Ind. Eng. Chem. 16:823-826. tion capacities as indirect selection criteria for sugar snap cookie qual-
Walker, C., Campbell, K., Carter, B., and Kidwell, K. 2008. Using the ity in Chinese soft wheats. Aust. J. Agric. Res. 59:911-917.
solvent retention capacity test when breeding wheat for diverse produc- Zhao, L., Wang, M., Wang, J., and Wei, W. 2008. Differences in solvent
tion environments. Crop Sci. 48:495-506. retention capacities among wheat cultivars and their relationship to
Xia, Y., Ma, C., and Si, H. 2008a. Properties of solvent retention capacity quality traits. J. Anhui Agric. Sci. 36:8981-8982.
in micro-core collections from Chinese wheat varieties. J. Anhui Agric. Zhou, M., Wu, H., Yu, G., Zhang, X., and Ma, H. 2007. Microdetermina-
Univ. 35(3):336-339. tion of solvent retention capacity in wheat. Jiangsu J. Agric. Sci.
Xia, Y., Ma, C., Si, H., Qiao, Y., and He, X. 2008b. Effects of genotype, 23:270-275.
environment and genotype environment interaction on solvent reten- Zimeri, J. 2010. Flour, soft wheat: Functionality. Pages 1:507-509 in:
tion capacity in common wheat. J. Triticeae Crops 28(3):448-451. Encyclopedia of Agricultural, Food, and Biological Engineering, 2nd
Xiao, Z. S., Park, S. H., Chung, O. K., Caley, M. S., and Seib, P. A. 2006. Ed. D. R. Heldman and C. I. Moraru, eds. CRC Press: Boca Raton, FL.
Solvent retention capacity values in relation to hard winter wheat and Zimmerman, E., Carey, J., Slade, L., and Levine, H. 1996a. Calcium-
flour properties and straight-dough breadmaking quality. Cereal Chem. enriched baked good production and method of making. U.S. patent
83:465-471. 5,514,387.
Yamazaki, W. T. 1953. An alkaline water retention capacity test for the Zimmerman, E., Carey, J., Slade, L., and Levine, H. 1996b. Tenderized
evaluation of cookie baking potentialities of soft winter wheat flours. baked good production with reduced fat, low fat, or no added fat. U.S.
Cereal Chem. 30:242-246. patent 5,514,404.

[Received July 25, 2011. Accepted September 13, 2011.]

552 CEREAL CHEMISTRY