Exploration of the main metabolite of ethanol in Chinese HuangMi JiuNiang to regulate the dough quality of steamed bread.

Most studies on ethanol's effect on dough quality focus on preserving fresh noodles. Research on its impact on fermented dough quality is limited. We investigated how ethanol, a key metabolite of HuangMi JiuNiang, affects dough quality. Ethanol was backfilled into dough at concentrations corresponding to those in JiuNiang to evaluate its effect on rheological properties. The protein and starch characteristics of yeast dough, JiuNiang dough and yeast-ethanol dough were determined. Results showed that ethanol reduced dough development time by 13.28 % and stabilization time by 30.03 %, meanwhile increasing degree of softening and decreasing extensibility. JiuNiang and ethanol enhanced α-helix and disulfide bonds, and decreased starch crystallinity. This might happen because α-helix was embedded in starch, stopping starch from being crystalline. Ethanol increased hydrogen bonding in dough and strengthened connection between proteins and starch. Results indicate that ethanol co-fermentation with yeast counteracts dough weakening and promotes standardised production of Chinese steamed bread.