The mixing and baking properties of wheaten doughs are determined largely by the content, composition and interactions of the major groups of flour proteins, the disulphide‐bonded glutenin subunits and monomeric gliadins. Prediction of dough and bread quality is currently based on medium‐scale rheological and baking tests, but the slow throughput of such tests limits their use both by millers and baking companies and in early‐generation screening by plant breeders. Thus identification and quantification of specific flour proteins by immunoassay has the potential advantages of speed, simplicity and applicability to small samples in breeding. Technical problems can arise from the low solubilities of these proteins and their high degrees of sequence homology (which often give rise to extensive antibody cross‐reaction). These problems can be minimized by modifications to methods and combining monoclonal antibodies with selected extraction conditions to enhance the functional specificity of the assay. Limitations also arise from attempting to predict the behaviour of a complex system, in which molecular interactions and processing changes have been important, purely from flour polypeptide composition. We have used quantitative immunoassays for specific groups of glutenins and gliadins to predict aspects of dough strength and extensibility, while ‘yes‐no’ direct enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assays can be used to screen for products of particular wheat or translocated rye genes associated with specific dough qualities. Monoclonal antibodies are also being employed to purify specific flour proteins under non‐denaturing conditions and in conjunction with novel very small scale dough testing equipment to directly assess functionality in doughs.