A gluten-free diet is the most effective prevention of celiac disease. Understanding how starch affects the texture of gluten-free steamed bread would facilitate rational selection of raw material and improvement of eating quality. This study analyzed the texture of gluten-free steamed bread prepared with different starches and characterized fermentation-induced changes in the structures of starch and protein, as well as in dough rheology. During fermentation, the short-range order and relative crystallinity of starch decreased, while the β-sheet content and hydrophobic interactions increased, leading to increased dough volume and enhanced viscoelasticity. The incorporation of different starches regulated the extent of these changes, causing differences in steamed bread texture. Compared with corn starch (CS), tapioca starch (TS) had higher relative crystallinity and short-range order, with a smaller decrease induced by fermentation, which promoted the formation of a more ordered protein network and strengthened hydrophobic interactions. This enhanced structural order imparted greater viscoelasticity to the dough. Additionally, the peak viscosity of TS was 1.68 times higher than that of CS. The higher gelatinization viscosity enabled TS to form a denser gel during steaming, collectively contributing to a softer and more elastic texture. Specifically, the replacement of CS with TS reduced the hardness of the gluten-free steamed bread from 6.81 to 3.47 N and increased its springiness from 0.76 to 0.92. It is thus proposed that starches with more crystalline regions, stronger short-range order, higher swelling capacity and gelatinization viscosity could be used to improve the texture of gluten-free steamed bread.
An et al. (Wed,) studied this question.