The average particle size of flours showed a positive correlation with stickiness (r ¼ 0.74) and a negative correlation with DEM (r ¼ 0.55) with a confidence of 99%, which could have been due to the greater surface area of flours with a smaller particle size. Flour particle size could also affect the internal dough structure, which would be more compact with fine flour fractions. Native maize flours showed the highest DPF values but otherwise we detected no clear tendency in DPF.