gluten (gloten)

[= Sp. glúten = Pg. gluten = It. glutine, soluble in water. On kneading wheat flour in a stream of water to remove the starch, the gluten remains as a tough elastic substance, sometimes called wheat gum. On the physical and chemical character of the gluten the baking quality of flour largely depends. Gluten is a mixture of at least four different albuminoids: gluten-casein (which is similar to the casein of milk), gluten-fibrin (which has some resemblance to animal fibrin), mucedin, and gliadin. gluten-bread (glö'ten-bred), n. A kind of bread in which there is a large proportion of gluten. It is prescribed medicinally in cases of diabetes.