Potassium bicarbonate improves dough and cookie characteristics through influencing physicochemical and conformation properties of wheat gluten

Baking soda (NaHCO(3)) has critical technological functions in cookie products. Health concern on excessive sodium consumption is increasing; therefore, it is necessary to explore NaHCO(3) alternatives, such as KHCO(3), for bakery products. This study investigated the impact of KHCO(3) on the technological behaviors of cookie dough and end-uses in comparison with control samples prepared with NaHCO(3) and explore the changes of physicochemical and conformation properties of soft wheat gluten during the process. Dough rheological measurements demonstrated that addition of KHCO(3) reduced dough stickiness, and adding KHCO(3) achieved similar dough and baking performances as using NaHCO(3), which were partially attributed to the decrease of gliadin to glutenin ratio, changes of secondary structure, and intensive aggregation of gluten by introducing KHCO(3). Cookie sensory attributes were also not adversely affected by using KHCO(3). Therefore, partially replacing NaHCO(3) with KHCO(3) in cookie products can be an effective approach for sodium reduction.