Wheat gluten is a concentrate of the properties of wheat Wheat  (Triticum L. ) that belongs to the Graminaceae family.

Wheat is a basic ingredient in the human diet and is incorporated into many food products including bread, cereals and pasta.

The main component (60-70%) of wheat is starch, a source of glucose rapidly released during digestion that contains two main glucose polymers, Amylosis and Amilopectin.

With the rise of human health problems such as obesity and diabetes, there has been a growing interest in altering the composition of starch in cereals and increasing the percentage of resistant starch.

Nutritional values:

Pretty caloric with about 337 kcalories per 100 grams.

Saturated fatty acids: 0.4g per 100 grams

It contains less protein than hard wheat that is used for the preparation of pasta.

Wheat gluten is used in the food, cosmetic sector and has some application also in the medical sector.

Wheat gluten is a patchwork of gluten, gliadine, albumin and globulin and play an important role and a determining factor for the quality of the bakery as it gives water absorption capacity, consistency, viscosity and elasticity on the dough. (1).

In particular, from recent studies, gliadine appears to have a role in celiac disease, rheumatoid arthritis, type 1 diabetes, multiple sclerosis and increases intestinal permeability (2).

On the other hand, wheat gluten in hydrolysed form, can mitigate intestinal injury (3).

Wheat Gluten Studies

References____________________________________________________________________

(1) Chemistry of gluten proteins.  Wieser H  Food Microbiol. 2007 Apr;24(2):115-9.

(2) Involvement of gliadin, a component of wheat gluten, in increased intestinal permeability leading to non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug-induced small-intestinal damage. Shimada S, Tanigawa T, Watanabe T, Nakata A, Sugimura N, Itani S, Higashimori A, Nadatani Y, Otani K, Taira K, Hosomi S, Nagami Y, Tanaka F, Kamata N, Yamagami H, Shiba M, Fujiwara Y. PLoS One. 2019 Feb 20;14(2):e0211436. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0211436

(3) Hydrolyzed wheat gluten alleviates deoxynivalenol-induced intestinal injury by promoting intestinal stem cell proliferation and differentiation via upregulation of Wnt/β-catenin signaling in mice.
Zhou JY, Zhang SW, Lin HL, Gao CQ, Yan HC, Wang XQ.
Food Chem Toxicol. 2019 Jun 13;131:110579. doi: 10.1016/j.fct.2019.110579