Effects of wheat variety and processing conditions in experimental bread baking studied by univariate and multivariate analyses

The effects of variety, mixing conditions and fermentation time on bread loaf characteristics were studied by univariate and multivariate statistical methods. Nearly all the measured bread loaf characteristics were significantly affected by variety, fermentation time; and mixing conditions. Significant interactions were also found. Multivariate analysis (principal component analysis; PCA), was used to find the main variation among the bread samples and to identify the bread loaf characteristics that contributed to describe this variation. The characteristics loaf volume and weight described a large part of the main variation among the leaves and these characteristics were studied in more detail by response surface methodology. The loaf volume and weight response surfaces for varieties, which by multivariate analysis were found to have common properties, followed similar general patterns. It was shown that the experimental design used provided information about the baking performance of wheat flours over a wide range of experimental conditions and, thus, can be a useful supplement to standardised and optimised baking tests. (C) 1997 Academie Press Limited.