Production of acidic extruded rice flour and its influence on the qualities of gluten-free bread

One of the greatest technological challenges in the production of gluten-free bread (GFB) is to find a low-cost ingredient capable of retaining gas during fermentation and the baking process. The use of gelatinized starch appears to show promise for this purpose. In this study, GFB was made using raw rice flour (100 g) with the addition of 10 g acidic extruded rice flour (AERF). The AERF was produced in a single-screw extruder, varying the extrusion temperature and lactic acid concentration. Response surface methodology (RSM) and the principle components analysis (PCA) were used to analyze the results. The results of RSM showed no significant difference, but the mean volume obtained with the AERF (1.95 mL g−1) was still low when compared with that of wheat bread (6 mL g−1). The crust and crumb colors and the texture (hardness = 173 g; chewiness = 90.5 and fracturability = 178) presented results similar to those of wheat bread and better than other GFB found in the literature. When analyzed by PCA the AERF obtained at 150 °C–0.5 mol L−1 lactic acid, showed the best results for the GFB obtained. IR spectroscopy showed that no bands were found for esters (1740 cm−1) in the AERFs, which could indicate that no new bonds were formed between the rice flour and the lactic acid.