The effect of kneading speed on breadmaking from unrefined wheat flour dough

The good nutritional value of unrefined wheat flours makes it necessary to implement breadmaking strategies to improve bread quality. The present study investigated the effect of kneading speed, dough water amount and kneading time on both the specific mechanical energy of unrefined wheat flour dough and the quality of unrefined wheat flour bread produced from two wheat flour cv. of different technological quality. The kneading speed turned out to be a critical factor to optimize the kneading operation. The effect of kneading speed was significantly linked with the kneading time and water amount as a function of the technological quality of flour. Advantageous operating conditions of kneading were also extrapolated to minimize both time and energy consumption of kneading, assuming 3.00 L/kg of bread specific volume as a reference value for soft bread. Application of high speed, short time and high dough water content was suggested for the kneading optimization for unrefined wheat flour.