Rheological, pasting and textural properties of corn flour as influenced by the addition of rice and lentil flour

Abstract

The objective of the present work was to investigate the rheological, pasting and textural properties of corn, lentil, rice flours and their blends. In the binary blends, the corn flour (CF) was substituted by rice flour (RF) or lentil flour (LF) at a ratio of 100/0 to 60/40. Upon non-isothermal heating of flour doughs, the rheometric peak gelatinization temperature was detected, which varied significantly for the individual or blended doughs, and those data were comparable to the amylographic peak temperature. Among individual flours, the CF obtained after heating/cooling steps exhibited predominating liquid-like (G″>G′) behavior. Significant differences in pasting properties were recorded among the individual and blended flours. The peak viscosity, hot paste viscosity and breakdown viscosities of the CF improved upon the addition of RF and LF in the blend. The RF addition decreased the hardness, compressibility and adhesiveness; conversely, the LF addition reversed the trend. This study demonstrated that the rheological characterization of flour or blend prior to extrusion could provide a smooth operation with a correct product formulation.