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An investigation of the quality and functionality of gluten free mixes available on the UK market
V. STOJCESKA (1) (1) Brunel Univeristy London, London, United Kingdom.

This work investigates the functionality of gluten-free mixes available on prescription on the UK market. Six gluten-free mixes were used to prepare white breads following the methodology of their manufacturers. A number of textural and physical analyses were performed on the resulting breads using Volscan Profiler, Texture analyser (TA –XT2i and C-cell analyser. Sensory evaluation for all the samples was carried out with 35 participants, all diagnosed with coeliac disease and members of the Coeliac UK. The participants were asked to sample six fresh white gluten-free breads and evaluate a number of attributes by ticking a line from 1 to 10 ( 1- dislike and 10 – like) The attributes were as follows: appearance, crumbliness, softness, flavour, aftertaste and overall liking. The preliminary questionnaire and sensory evaluation were administered, resulting data collected and analysed.  Additional information from the participants was obtained for the convenience of gluten-free mixes use for preparation of various gluten-free products. The data were analysed using SPSS 16.0. The results revealed that there was a significant difference (P<0.05) between all the samples in terms of loaf volume, area, weight, hardness, slice structure and shelf life. The sensory evaluation results indicated that there was a large variation seen in all attributes tested. It was apparent that some of the samples performed far below the expectations. The explanation is seemingly in the type of the ingredients used for developing gluten –free mixes and variety of suggested methodologies by manufacturers. In order to achieve good textural characteristics such as high loaf volume, crumb softness and structure, it is very important to understand the functionality and interaction of the ingredients (starches, proteins and hydrocolloids) used in gluten-free formulation.