Hans-Dieter-Belitz-Institute for Cereal Grain Research

Chemical Analysis

In combination with baking tests and rheological measurements chemical and analytical methods provide a comprehensive description of the properties of a flour. Previous investigations have shown that the baking quality of wheat flours are determined by the presence or absence of specific gluten protein components on one side, and by their amount on the other side. Therefore, methods have been developed at the Kurt-Hess-Institute to determine the type or the quantity of gluten protein components in flour. In one method a small quantity of flour (50 mg) is extracted sequentially with different solvents into fractions that are analysed qualitatively by reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC; below).


HPLC-apparatus for the separation of gluten protein components		Chromatogram of the HPLC-separation of gluten protein components. ω: ω-gliadins; HMW/LMW: high-/low-molecular weight subunits of glutenin

The second method has been developed for poorly equiped laboratorys. In this method the amounts of gluten protein components in the fractions are determined by turbidimetric measurement with a simple spectrophotometer. The results can be used for the differentiation of wheat cultivars or for the prediction of the baking performance of flours. Furthermore, the gluten content of food is determined by an ELISA using the R5 antibody (r-Biopharm). This is of special importance for people suffering from coeliac disease.

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