Chapatti quality from British wheat cultivar flours

The aim was to study wheat flour parameters relevant to suitability for production of chapattis, made from British wheat cultivars. Wholemeal flours from eight British cultivars grown in UK differed in physicochemical and rheological properties, and were less suited to chapatti production than Mehrani, commercial wholemeal chapatti flour. Chapatti quality of Mehrani wholemeal flour was rated as excellent, hence this was used as a benchmark. Flours from cultivars Riband and Galahad gave weak dough whereas those from Fresco and Mercia yielded dough high in resistance to sheeting that contracted after rolling. Dough from Avalon, Hereward and Pastiche had moderate resistance to sheeting properties. Changes in softness of chapatti during storage were evaluated using an Instron testing machine. Evaluation by sensory panel indicated that all cultivars produced chapattis that were fair to good in sensory characteristics. Some correlations were found between sensory and instrumental attributes of chapatti.