2006 Volume 10 Issue 2 Pages 142-151
Using five types of reconstituted flour having different compositions of the gluten-constituent proteins glutenin and gliadin，we prepared cookies with physical properties that were suitable as food for the elderly or as nursing food for patients with slight dysphagia．The breaking properties of cookies whose glutenin and gliadin component ratios were altered were evaluated by instrument measurements，and the eases of cookie swallowing was evaluated by a sensory test and measurements of water absorption of cookies and model bolus physicality．When the component ratio of gliadin-to-glutenin was changed from a ratio resembling that of marketed flour of 1：1 to 1：2， the cookies began to crumble easily，and when they were mixed with saliva their texture improved．This made it easier to form a bolus．A sensory test on young volunteers also demonstrated that cookies with a gliadin-to-glutenin ratio of 1：2 were more suitable food for the elderly and as nursing food than cookies with a gliadin-to-glutenin ratio of 1：1．These results prove that to manufacture cookies that are suitable as such food，it is beneficial to increase the glutenin portion of gluten-constituent protein The main reason why an increase in glutenin alters the physicality of cookies might be because an increase in glutenin decreases the water content absorbed by gluten during dough preparation，which in turn causes the water content absorbed by the starch to increase，thereby promoting starch gelatinization．
