Process for the separation of gluten and starch

The present invention relates to a process for the separation of gluten and starch from wheat flower, wherein in a first step the wheat flour is converted into a dough having a moisture content of less than 50 wt%, based on dry weight of the flour. The dough is in a subsequent step subjected to an essential simple shear flow with a shear stress of at least 1 kPa and a specific mechanical energy input of at least 5 kJ/kg per minute processing time to obtain a processed dough. It is preferred that the apparatus used for performing this step comprises a reactor of the cone-and-plate type or the cone-cone-type wherein an absolute velocity profile across the conical gap is present. In a final step, the processed dough is separated into a gluten enriched fraction and a starch enriched fraction. The gluten enriched fraction is very suitable for bakery applications.