Gluten is extracted from wheat flour by simple aqueous separation from the other constituents (starch, etc.). It comes in the form of a whitish viscous liquid or paste ("moist" gluten) or a cream‑coloured powder (dry gluten).
It consists essentially of a mixture of various proteins, the main ones being gliadin and glutenin (which account for 85 to 95 % of the total). The presence of these two proteins is characteristic of wheat gluten, which owes to them its elasticity and plasticity when mixed with water in suitable proportions. Gluten is used mainly to enrich in proteins flours used in making certain types of bread or biscuits, of macaroni or similar products or of dietetic preparations. It is also used as a binder in certain meat preparations, for the manufacture of certain glues or of products such as gluten sulphate or gluten phosphate, hydrolysed vegetable proteins or sodium glutamate.The heading excludes, inter alia : (a) Wheat flour enriched by the addition of gluten (heading 11.01). (b) Proteins extracted from wheat gluten (generally heading 35.04). (c) Wheat gluten prepared for use as a glue or as a glazing or dressing for the textile industry (heading 35.06 or 38.09).
|