A phenomenological analysis of wheat gluten viscoelastic response in retardation and in dynamic experiments over a large time scale

Dynamic measurements and retardation tests (creep and creep recovery) were combined systematically to characterise the different aspects of gluten rheology. Gluten flow behaviour exhibits extreme shear thinning and time-dependent viscosity. The viscoelastic contribution to the total strain behaves linearly over large strain and stress ranges; however, the material shows physical ageing and does not exhibit time translational invariance. In spite of these difficulties, it was possible, in the case of fresh gluten samples or after the material has been submitted to mechanical loading for a period long enough, to obtain the linear viscoelastic response over seven logarithmic decades of time or frequency by combining the data from dynamic measurements and from retardation tests. The method of Kaschta was used to calculate the discrete retardation spectrum from creep recovery data; the spectrum was then used to convert recovery data into storage and loss compliance and modulus. Converted recovery data match dynamic data satisfactorily in the case of fresh gluten. Some discrepancy was observed in the case of gluten submitted to previous mechanical history; it has been attributed to the effect of physical ageing. The storage and nonviscous loss compliance functions show that the extension of the viscoelastic plateau of gluten is very large. Their shape suggests a bimodal spectrum; however, this point would need further confirmation.