Analysis of the relationship between bread-making qualities and dough stress during the proofing process

Abstract

The physical properties of dough (PPD), instantaneous elasticity, regularity coefficient of viscosity, and relaxation time (τ0), of various white bread doughs without yeast addition were measured by the creep method based on a Maxwell-2-element model (Maxwell model). It was assumed that PPD do not change during fermentation and thus the stress of various doughs in the proofing process could be obtained using Euler’s method. Simulation results revealed that dough with large elastic characteristics, a large τ0, and fermented quickly had a high stress peak during the expansion process and that the final stress (σend) also had a high value compared to other doughs. Meanwhile, dough characterized by a small τ0 and slow fermentation showed the opposite tendency. Additionally, the calculated σend was significantly correlated with the gas retention of dough and specific loaf volume (SLV). These results demonstrated that SLV of various white bread doughs could be estimated using PPD and fermentation speed.