Investigation of Soft Wheat Flour Quality Factors Associated with Sponge Cake Sensory Tenderness

Relationships among soft wheat quality parameters relating to sponge cake volume and sensory tenderness were investigated. Sixteen soft wheats from the 2008–2009 crop and 11 from the 2009–2010 crop, including Japanese soft wheat cultivars, advanced breeders' lines, and western white wheat imported from the United States, were milled and evaluated for protein content, sucrose solvent retention capacity value, specific surface area, flour pasting properties, batter pasting viscosity, sodium dodecyl sulfate sedimentation (SDSS) volume, farinograph properties, specific cake volume, and sensory tenderness score to investigate their relationships. Batter pasting viscosity was measured with a Rapid Visco Analyzer (RVA) at 2 min after reaching 90°C in heating a mixture with equal weights of flour, sucrose, and water. RVA minimum viscosity of flour suspension in water was the most influencing factor and positively correlated to specific cake volume, and RVA batter pasting viscosity and SDSS volume were ne...