ABSTRACT
This chapter illustrates some recent data based on fundamental rheological tests which offer more basic viscoelastic information and related structural organization of the dough. The unique rheological response of wheat flour doughs contributes to their versatility from a technological point of view. Flour doughs can behave simultaneously as a viscous liquid and an elastic solid. A viscous liquid flows by the gravitational force, where geometry deformation and stress relaxation are observed over time. Conversely, an elastic material recovers part of the deformation when the stress is removed, such as when forced to pass through a die, where the material expands at the die exit. Many foodstuffs and various engineering materials exhibit this behavior as a result of their complex structure. Extensibility and resistance to extension of a dough is usually estimated by means of the extensograph. With this instrument, a piece of dough molded into a cylinder is stretched by a hook.
