Rather than the name of the protein in flour itself, gluten is more correctly the term of the network formed when wheat flour’s two main proteins, glutenin and gliadin are introduced to water and agitated. Glutenin proteins bond strongly with one another end to end while also bonding, albeit a little more weakly, along their lengths. While this is occuring, gliadin proteins (more compact than glutenin in structure) bond to one another and to the glutenin chains to form a matrix of protein, now known as gluten.
This structure has elasticity and the elasticity allows gluten to swell and expand without breaking when gas bubbles are introduced, such as carbon dioxide during yeast fermentation and water vapor during baking, which allows for leavened bread products.
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