Wheat-gluten uses and industry needs

Gluten, the dough-forming protein of wheat flour, is the key to the unique ability of wheat to suit the production of leavened products. The past five decades have seen the rise of gluten as a commodity in its own right, through the large-scale industrial separation of wheat starch from gluten, plus the controlled drying of the gluten so as to retain its functional properties. The resulting Vital Dry Gluten is most widely used in bakery products. However, gluten (vital, de-vital or modified) is finding increasing use as a food ingredient to provide a range of functional properties at a more modest price than competitors such as milk and soy proteins.