Plaut et al. (1953) observed a decrease in volume in breads
which included carob germ, when they were compared with wheat
bread. In the same way, Feillet and Roulland (1998) found
a decrease in extensibility and swelling index when carob germwas
added at 1% to wheat dough. In our study, 1.5% protein from carob
germ flour resulted in a significant decrease of carob germ bread
volume compared with chickpea, pea and soya breads. Although
the reported ability of hydrated carob germ protein to form
a network structure, the use of carob germ flour in our study did not
result in a network able to expand as much as the other formulations,
when proofed or baked. As discussed previously, Smith et al.
(2010) reported that prolamins were not detected in carob germ
protein. As the extensibility of the gluten network is attributed to
the prolamin fraction, its lack in carob germ flour would account for
the low volume of carob germ bread. Furthermore, volume
impairment may also be due to an excess of hydrocolloid content
due to residual gum content present in carob germ flour, as carob
gum and xanthan gum can form a gel when heated (BeMiller,
2008), which would not be able to expand.