Cereal Chem 57:138 - 140.  |  VIEW ARTICLE
Effects of Loaf Volume, Moisture Content, and Protein Quality on the Softness and Staling Rate of Bread.

M. Maleki, R. C. Hoseney, and P. J. Mattern. Copyright 1980 by the American Association of Cereal Chemists, Inc. 

Breads of different moisture contents were obtained by baking for different times. Different loaf volumes were obtained by changing the protein content of the flour and loaves of different sizes from bread pans of different sizes. Compressibility of bread was used as an indicator of staling rate. Higher moisture content and larger loaf size produced softer bread. Increasing the protein content of flour increased the loaf volume and resulted in softer bread. To determine the effect of flour fractions, four varieties of wheat were milled and two of the flours were fractionated into gluten, starch, and water solubles. Breads were baked from the original flours and from reconstituted flours with or without interchanging the fractions. Compressibility of breads was used as an indication of staling after various storage times. Breads from different flours staled at different rates. Fractionation of flour did not change the staling rate unless the fractionation procedure damaged a flour component. Gluten was the major fraction responsible for differences in staling rate. Starch and water solubles did not significantly affect staling rates.