Influence of the incorporation of fibers in biscuit dough on proton mobility characterized by time domain NMR.

The effect of fiber addition on the distribution and mobility of protons in biscuits is studied by using low resolution time domain nuclear magnetic resonance (TD-NMR). The proportion of flour is reduced in order to incorporate inulin and oat fiber. NMR temperature dependent experiments are carried out in order to gain insight on the processes occurring in biscuit baking. Proton populations were identified measuring spin-spin relaxation times (T2). The major change in the relaxation profiles upon incorporation of fibers corresponds to mobile water molecules, which appear to be related to dough spreading behavior and biscuit quality. Biscuit samples baked in a commercial oven were studied by two dimensional spin-lattice/spin-spin (T1-T2) relaxation maps. The T1/T2 ratio is used as an indicator of the population mobility, where changes in the mobility of water in contact with flour components as starch, proteins and pentosans are observed.