An approach to studying the effect of different bread improvers on the staling of pre-baked frozen bread

The usefulness of different bread improvers (alpha-amylase, sourdough, kappa-carrageenan, hydroxypropylmethylcellulose) in an interrupted baking process was evaluated by using a differential scanning calorimeter as an oven. The thermal transitions of the wheat starch produced during the part-baking process, frozen storage at -18 degreesC, finish baking and aging of the baked dough at 4 degreesC were registered. The thermal properties of wheat starch during gelatinisation measured by differential scanning calorimetry were slightly affected by the dough formulation: only the peak temperature and the onset temperature underwent an increase, whereas the gelatinisation enthalpy decreased. The presence of the bread improvers minimised the negative effect of the frozen storage observed in the control sample, which showed an increase in the retrogradation temperature range. Concerning the aging of the baked dough after freezing and re-baking, all the improvers decreased the retrogradation enthalpy of the amylopectin, retarding the staling. Bread improvers can act effectively in the interrupted baking processes with frozen storage of the part-baked breads.