Wheat gluten (WG), a polydisperse plant protein polymer is an important component of wheat flour and may serve as a non-toxic, biodegradable alternative to traditional polymers for commodity markets. Its low cost (about $1/kg) makes it attractive for high-volume applications. We have recently reported the improvement in the mechanical properties of wheat gluten by blending with thiolated additives. WG is obtained from wheat flour by washing dough to separate from starch, and is mainly composed of a low molecular weight gliadin fraction and a high molecular weight glutenin fraction. Gliadins are readily soluble in aqueous alcohols, while the glutenins are not. An important difference between gliadins and glutenins, is that gliadins have only intra-molecular disulfide linkage while glutenins have both inter- and intra-molecular disulfide linkages.
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