Role of chitosan and transglutaminase on the elaboration of gluten-free bread.

The increasing sensitivity to gluten has aroused interest in gluten-free products like bread. However, one of the biggest challenges of producing gluten-free bread is to get a good quality structure. We hypothesize that using chitosan along with transglutaminase, a network of crosslinks would be generated, guaranteeing a better structure. Thus, in the present work, we produced gluten-free bread using red rice flour and cassava flour, transglutaminase, and chitosan at concentrations of 0%, 1%, and 2%. Loaves of bread were characterized, and the instrumental texture properties during five days were determined. Bread produced with chitosan and transglutaminase presented lighter brown coloration due to incomplete Maillard reaction and low specific volumes varying from 1.64 to 1.48 cm/g, possibly due to chitosan interfering with yeast fermentation. Rheological tests revealed increases in viscosity before and after fermentation when chitosan was used. Bread with chitosan presented high initial firmness but a lower rate of staling, possibly due to water retention. According to results, a possible network involving chitosan and other proteins promoted by transglutaminase was formed and after optimization could yield better gluten-free bread.