Cake Flour Chlorination and Alternative Treatments (Review)

In order to produce satisfactory cake, ingredients must be balanced accurately. Flour acts as building structure that contributes in the crumb properties. Chlorine treatment of soft wheat flour has been widely used since the 1920s. The functional effect of chlorination is partially de-polymerizing and oxidizing of flour starch. Oxidized starch granules are able to swell more rapidly after the starch reaches the gelatinization temperature and the resulting batter system will be adequately viscous to support the cake's structure without collapsing. Batter expansion is superior for treated flours, even at the lowest chlorination rate, than for untreated flour. Alternatives to chlorine treatment need to be developed because of the potential carcinogenic effect of chlorination. Egg albumin contributes strength to cake crumb and improves cake volume. Acceptable cake volume can be achieved by heating but the dryer, stiffer crumb that springs back upon compression is not produced by heated flours. Xanthan gum L-cysteine, and hydrogen peroxide plus peroxidase to heat-treated flour and obtained volumes equivalent to cakes produced using chlorine-treated flour. Ozone treatments also are applied in cake flour with some benefits instead of chlorination.