See Also: Gluten(recipes)
Gluten(medicine)
gluten(dictionary)
gluten(encyclopedia)
gluten(dictionary)
Gluten(health)
Gluten enteropathy(medicine)
Gluten intolerance(health)
enteropathy, gluten(medicine)
gluten-free diet(medicine)

Gluten (recipes)


Gluten is a mixture of two proteins present in cereal grains, in particular wheat. It' s a key factor in the success in all kinds of baking because it' s gluten that absorbs liquid, giving dough its elasticity and strength. The kneading process helps to develop and distribute the gluten present in the flour.Yeast causes the dough to ferment which produces bubbles of carbon dioxide. These get trapped in the strands of gluten, and the dough rises.Some people, such as those suffering from coeliac disease, are gluten-intolerant, so they can' t eat standard wheat-flour breads. There are gluten-free baked goods available and it' s possible to make gluten-free breads and baked goods at home substituting, for example, rice flour for wheat flour.Wheat gluten is of particular interest to vegans and vegetarians because it' s the source of a product called seitan. To make seitan, the gluten is extracted from wheat and then processed to resemble meat. It' s more similar to meat in texture than either textured vegetable protein or mycoprotein and is used as a meat substitute in a range of foods.You can find out more about gluten-free cooking in our feature on gluten-free food.