- gluten
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/glooht"n/, n.1. the tough, viscid, nitrogenous substance remaining when the flour of wheat or other grain is washed to remove the starch.2. Archaic. glue or a gluey substance.[1590-1600; < L gluten glue]
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Mixture of proteins not readily soluble in water that occurs in wheat and most other cereal grains.Its presence in flour makes production of leavened baked goods (see baking) possible because the chainlike gluten molecules form an elastic network that traps carbon dioxide gas and expands with it. The properties of gluten vary with its composition, which differs according to the source. Thus, doughs range from soft and extensible to tough and elastic, depending on the gluten in the flours. Persons with an allergy to gluten can often eat rice or spelt products.* * *
a yellowish gray powdery mixture of water-insoluble proteins occurring in wheat and other cereal grains and composed chiefly of the proteins gliadin and glutenin. Its presence in flour helps make the production of leavened, or raised, baked goods possible because the chainlike molecules form an elastic network that traps carbon dioxide gas and expands with it. Gluten is also found in special high-protein breakfast foods and other cereal foods and is used in adhesives and as meal for cattle food. It also may be used in the manufacture of certain amino acids, including glutamic acid and its salt, the seasoning agent monosodium glutamate.The properties of gluten vary according to its composition, which differs according to the source. The variations govern the baking qualities of flours, as is shown by the properties of doughs prepared from different kinds of wheat flours; i.e., the dough can be soft and extensible or tough and elastic, or have properties between the extremes.* * *
Universalium. 2010.
