Alkali-catalyzed Crosslinking of a New Wheat Gluten Fiber and the Effect of Crosslinking Parameters on Its Mechanical Properties

Although new wheat protein fibers have been reported to be crosslinked to obtain good mechanical properties, the effect of formaldehyde-free chemical crosslinking conditions on the mechanical properties of crosslinked wheat gluten fibers has not been studied in detail. In this paper, new wheat gluten fibers are crosslinked by glutaraldehyde in various conditions, and the quantitative relationship between the breaking tenacities of crosslinked wheat gluten fibers and the crosslinking conditions are developed. This study shows that the reaction follows pseudo 0.6 order, which is lower than pseudo 1.2 order for the reaction between citric acid and gliadin fibers.