Effects of Hofmeister salt series on gluten network formation: Part I. Cation series

•Cations influence gluten structure formation and dough rheology.•The effects mostly follow the Hofmeister series (NH4+, K+, Na+, Mg2+ and Ca2+).•K+ having the similar effect to Na+ on rheological properties of dough and gluten.•The largest differences were seen between the kosmotropic and chaotropic salts.

Different cationic salts were used to investigate the effects of the Hofmeister salt series on gluten network formation. The effects of cationic salts on wheat flour dough mixing properties, the rheological and the chemical properties of the gluten extracted from the dough with different respective salts, were investigated. The specific influence of different cationic salts on the gluten structure formation during dough mixing, compared to the sodium ion, were determined. The effects of different cations on dough and gluten of different flours mostly followed the Hofmeister series (NH4+, K+, Na+, Mg2+ and Ca2+). The impacts of cations on gluten structure and dough rheology at levels tested were relatively small. Therefore, the replacement of sodium from a technological standpoint is possible, particularly by monovalent cations such as NH4+, or K+. However the levels of replacement need to take into account sensory attributes of the cationic salts.