Effects of taro powder on the properties of wheat flour and dough

Abstract This work aimed to investigate the effect of taro powder on the quality of wheat flour products. The water and starch content, whiteness, pasting properties, texture, microstructure, rheological properties of dough and water distribution in dough were analyzed. Taro powder significantly increased the peak viscosity, trough viscosity, final viscosity and setback value in the gelatinization process of flour, reduced the breakdown value, and increased the gelatinization temperature. Taro flour showed the ability to improve the farinographical properties and gelatinizing properties of flour. Adding taro flour reduces the development time and softness of the dough while increasing water absorption. The starch content, peak viscosity and water absorption of the mixed flour were the highest when the proportion of taro powder was increased to 25%. As the amount of taro powder increases, the color and hardness of the mixed flour dough become deeper, and the moisture inside the dough becomes less easily lost. The addition of taro powder may make the dough less resistant to mechanical blending and slightly less viscoelastic, but the gluten structure is smoother. In short, when the added amount of taro powder is 20% or 25%, it can meet the processing conditions.