Effect of inulin polymerization degree on nutritional and technological characteristics of gluten free bread

Introduction: Wheat bread is the staple food all over the world. Gluten sensitivity in some people has led to the development of gluten-free ones. Inulin is a soluble dietary fiber with beneficial nutritional effects is able to restore the function of gluten in gluten-free products by increasing water absorption and creating a structure. The function of gluten depends on its polymerization degree. This study is aimed to investigate the effect of inulin polymerization degree on the technological and nutritional characteristics of rice-acorn flour based gluten-free bread. Methods: This study is an experimental type. To investigate the effect of the inulin polymerization degree on technological and nutritional characteristics of rice:acorn flour based gluten-free bread, the textural, physicochemical, sensory characteristics and inulin stability of samples enriched inulin with different polymerization degree were assessed. All tests were done in triplicate. Data analysis was done with SPSS 25 software Results: Results indicated that the optimized technological characteristics and lowest inulin loss ratio (31% w/w-1) is found at gluten-free bread samples containing 30% w/w-1 of acorn flour and long-chain inulin fermented by MF-SD (A30R70SL). Long-chain inulin is found to be able to restore gases produced during the fermentation and expanded through cooking process, which seems to be induced by its potential ability to form a gel. Conclusion: Using long-chain inulin is recommended to achieve desirable technological characteristics and high nutritional value in the formulation of gluten-free bread.