Effects of wheat germ treated with different stabilization methods on dough characteristics and steamed bread quality

In this study, different stabilization methods (hot air, microwave, high-pressure, water bath, atmospheric pressure, ultraviolet, and microwave coupled with high-pressure) were applied to wheat germ to explore their impacts on the dough characteristics and quality of the steamed bread end-product. The stabilized lipase activity for all treatment schemes ranged from 14.05 to 7.24 mg/g, with the ultraviolet treatment (14.05 mg/g) being the least effective and high-pressure treatment (7.24 mg/g) being the most effective. However, the addition of high-pressure treatment increased the β-sheets content of wheat germ in the dough to 27.74%, increased dough hardness, and decreased the specific volume of the steamed bread to 1.61 mL/g. Hot air treatment improved the structural stability of the wheat germ dough, and the α-helix content and disulfide bond content increased to 29.06% and 23.10 μmol/mg, respectively, with good fermentation characteristics. This study reveals the impact of stabilized wheat germ on the dough's processing characteristics and the bread's quality, providing solutions for wheat germ stabilization methods in industrial production.