For the food made from gluten, see Seitan. Gluten is a structural protein naturally found in certain rye bread without wheat flour grains. Gluten can trigger adverse, inflammatory, immunological, and autoimmune reactions in some people. The formation of gluten affects the texture of the baked goods.

Gluten’s attainable elasticity is proportional to its content of glutenins with low molecular weights, as this portion contains the preponderance of the sulfur atoms responsible for the cross-linking in the gluten network. The “chewiness” increases as the dough is kneaded for longer times. The strength and elasticity of gluten in flour is measured in the baking industry using a farinograph. This gives the baker a measurement of quality for different varieties of flours when developing recipes for various baked goods. In industrial production, a slurry of wheat flour is kneaded vigorously by machinery until the gluten agglomerates into a mass. This flour-like powder, when added to ordinary flour dough, may help improve the dough’s ability to increase in volume.