Study of the effect of DATEM. 1. Influence of fatty acid chain length on rheology and baking.

To answer the question of which fatty acid residue is the most effective, diacetyltartaric esters of monoglycerides (DATEMs) with fatty acids of chain lengths 6:0-20:0 were synthesized. The activity of synthesized DATEMs and commercial DATEM products was studied by means of rheological methods and a microscale baking test with 10 g of flour. Variation of the acyl residue from 6:0 to 22:0 showed that stearic acid (18:0) had the best effect on the baking activity of DATEM (loaf volume increased by 62%). DATEMs containing unsaturated fatty acids (18:1, 18:2) or DATEMs produced from diacylglycerols instead of monoacylglycerols showed a slight increase of the loaf volumes. A slight effect of DATEM on the rheology of dough was observed. However, much greater was the effect on the gluten isolated from doughs prepared with DATEM. The resistance of gluten to extension was increased after the addition of increasing amounts of DATEM (0.1-0.5%). Within the series of DATEMs derived from the homologous series of monoacylglycerols the product based on glycerol monostearate (18:0) showed a maximum increase of the gluten resistance.