Cereal Chem 65:398-401   |  VIEW ARTICLE

Effect of Native Lipids, Shortening, and Bread Moisture on Bread Firming.

D. E. Rogers, K. J. Zeleznak, C. S. Lai, and R. C. Hoseney. Copyright 1988 by the American Association of Cereal Chemists, Inc. 

Moisture content was found to be inversely proportional to the rate of firming. Low-moisture bread, which firmed at a fast rate, had a slow rate of starch retrogradation. Therefore, firming is not simply a function of starch retrogradation, but both are influenced, in different ways, by bread moisture content. Shortening was quite effective in decreasing the firming rate of bread made with intact flour. However, it had no effect on firming rate when used with defatted flour. Therefore, shortening acts through the flour lipids. The influence of flour lipids on firming rate is concentration dependent. At low levels, total free lipids enhanced firming and at higher levels the lipids delayed firming. This pattern is a mirror image of the effect of total free lipids on loaf volume.