May 20, 1918 



Hydration Capacity of Gluten 



407 



appears to be less hydrated than is the strong gluten. To be sure, four 

 of the six differences are probably within the experimental error, but it 

 is possibly significant that each of the six determinations shows a nega- 

 tive sign. Thus, their own data refute their idea that quality of gluten 

 is regulated by the degree of imbibition and upholds our contention that 

 quality of gluten is not determined by the amount of acids and salts in 



Ay</-^O.OOS/VA'//C^/%,Oe- 



Fig. 13. — Graph showing the imbibition curves for C gluten in oxalic acid and in oxalic acid plus certain 



salts. 



the flour, but by the physico-chemical nature of the colloids comprising 

 the gluten. 



Again, these authors list data for a "patent" and a "low-grade" flour 

 in Table XI of their bulletin. These data when recalculated give the 

 following figures : 



The low-grade shows a deficiency of 0.0125 gio. per gram of moist 

 gluten over the patent gluten. This result is within the experimental 

 error of the "patent" grade, but certainly does not support their theory 

 as to the cause of strong and weak glutens. 



We have devoted considerable space to the theory of Upson and Calvin 

 because of its important bearing in a study such as we have made, and we 

 believe that we have presented sufficient evidence to show that it has no 

 supporting evidence either in our own work or in any of their publications. 



