Investigation of reported correlation coefficients between rheological properties of the wheat bread doughs and baking performance of the corresponding wheat flours

The objective of this study was to investigate the large variation in correlation coefficients reported in the literature for correlations between rheological properties of the wheat flour dough and its baking performance. While some studies reported in the literature on the correlations between dynamic rheological properties and baking performance that achieved high coefficient of correlation values, the studies appear to have limited ability to use dough rheological properties to predict baking performance. An analysis of a study with one of the highest values reported for the coefficient of correlation (r = 0.94) between dynamic rheological properties and baking performance found that when the standard error for the correlation is considered, the value of the correlation for prediction purposes of loaf volume was extremely limited. It would appear that to develop models that could be used by the baking industry to predict wheat flour baking performance, many factors in addition to rheological parameters would have to be included in the model.

► A large variation in correlations between rheological properties of wheat dough and baking performance of the resulting breads were explored.
► The correlation varies from no significant correlation to high correlation as high as r = 0.9.
► These findings have limited ability to be used as predictors in baking industry.
► Many factors in addition to rheological properties should be considered to develop a predictive model that could be used in the baking industry.