Food Research International 50 (2013) 369376

Contents lists available at SciVerse ScienceDirect

Food Research International

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/foodres

Microstructure, textural and sensorial properties of durum wheat bread as affected by

yeast content
V. Lampignano, J. Laverse, M. Mastromatteo, M.A. Del Nobile
Department of Food Science, University of Foggia, via Napoli, 25, 71100 Foggia, Italy

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: In this study, breads varying in yeast content and therefore leading to distinct cellular structures are investi-
Received 13 July 2012 gated. Firstly, X-ray microtomography is used to characterize not only the nal cellular structure, but also the
Accepted 21 October 2012 process of development of microstructure during the fermentation stage. With CT, image analysis of the full
3-D microstructure, measuring the size, shape, networking/connectivity and distribution of various phases
Keywords:
was possible. These measurements represent the full 3-D microstructure, which is not always possible by
Durum wheat bread
Yeast
2-D image analysis using statistical techniques. Secondly, the textural properties of the baked bread were
Texture and microstructure obtained by compression tests and nally, the sensorial quality of the nal product is also evaluated and
Sensorial properties correlated with the above properties. Results showed that an increase of the yeast content increased the
percentage volume of pores and decreased the force required for compression of the bread sample and the
tenacity. Moreover, a larger quantity of smaller sized pores led to a rmer bread structure. Regarding the
sensorial properties, none of the investigated microstructural parameters were signicantly correlated with
the overall quality of the bread. In fact, the overall quality was more strongly affected from other parameters
such as odor and appearance attributes.
2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
The distinctive appeal of bread is in the palatable texture and
attractive appearance derived from its aerated structure, made possi-
ble by the unique ability of wheat gluten proteins to retain gases pro-
duced by yeast fermentation (Campbell, 2003). While the term
bread is used generically, there is a wide variety of different types
of breads, reecting local and national culture and practice, and
frequently identied by their distinctive aerated structures, or by
their specic shapes that the rising process allows the loaf to adopt.
In southern Italy bread is commonly produced using durum wheat
our (Triticum durum). This type of bread represents a traditional
product characterized by higher crumb rmness. As it is well known,
bread dough from wheat our has properties that can differ from each
other according to the different water and yeast content. Yeast is the
driving force behind fermentation, the process that allows a dense
mass of dough to become a well-risen loaf of bread. In bread making,
yeast has three major roles. Apart from its well known leavening ability,
yeast also helps to strengthen and develop gluten in dough and also
contributes to incredible avors in bread. Yeast works by consuming
sugar and excreting carbon dioxide and alcohol as byproducts. Bread
making is a process in which large extensional deformation of the
dough is featured prominently (Campbell, 2003). During the mixing
Corresponding author. Tel./fax: +39 0881 589 242.
E-mail address: ma.delnobile@unifg.it (M.A. Del Nobile).
process, small air cells are incorporated into the dough. These bubbles
serve as nucleation sites for the diffusion of carbon dioxide and continue
to grow during fermentation and proong. Bubble growth is affected by
four factors; carbon dioxide production, carbon dioxide retention, the
rate of CO2 diffusion from the saturated dough into the nuclei and the
rate of bubble coalescence (Shah, Campbell, McKee, & Rielly, 1998).
Bread dough exhibits extremely complex rheological properties that
impact bubble structure and size distribution and overall stability. The
ability of the gas cells to resist failure and remain stable throughout
the proong and baking process is critical to nal bread texture and
volume.
Bread relies on its cellular foam structure for value and functional-
ity. Breadcrumb is usually dened as a spongy porous material char-
acterized by both closed and open pores. Each bread sample can
differ in porosity and the cells can have different dimensions, shapes,
orientation and connectivity. These microstructural parameters have
to be measured for a quantitative description of breadcrumb micro-
structure as the knowledge about the microstructure of foods can be
used to identify the important processing parameters that affect the
quality of a product and Pyler (1988), stated that the crumb texture
is greatly inuenced by the cell structure of the crumb. The micro-
structure of food products inuences to a large extent the physical,
textural and sensory properties of these products. Developing a prop-
er understanding of the microstructure, particularly the spatial distri-
bution and interaction of food components, is a key tool in developing
products with desired mechanical and organoleptic properties. The
result of baking is a structure dened by a relatively solid outer

0963-9969/$ see front matter 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.foodres.2012.10.030
370 V. Lampignano et al. / Food Research International 50 (2013) 369376
crust and a soft, delicate crumb comprising cell walls that surround
gas cells and determine the mechanical properties of the loaf. The in-
ternal and external appearance, compressibility and fracture mechan-
ics of the loaf are key factors determining its aesthetic appeal,
apparent freshness and performance during consumer handling. The
mechanical properties of baked crumb structures of both bread and
cakes have been vastly studied under compression or tension or
both by Chen, Whitney, and Peleg (1994), Swyngedau and Peleg
(1992). Promising results based on the material science of cellular
foams have been reported (Liu & Scanlon, 2002; Scanlon, Fahloul, &
Sapirstein, 1997; Scanlon, Sapirstein, & Fahloul, 2000; Zghal, Scanlon,
& Sapirstein, 2001), in which mechanical properties such as Young's
modulus and critical fracture stress have been related to structure.
The sensory property of bread, which is still a challenge, requires a
better understanding of relationships between composition, cellular
structure formation mechanisms and nal texture. It is well known
that for texture, sensory properties of solid food foams are related
to both mechanical properties and cellular structure (Pyler, 1988).
In this context, determining the relationships between a given me-
chanical property and the cellular structure is thus of prime impor-
tance. It is worth noting that, there are no studies dealing the effect
of the yeast content on the microstructure, textural and sensorial
properties of durum wheat bread and their correlations.
In this study, breads varying only in yeast content and therefore
leading to distinct cellular structures are investigated. Firstly, X-ray
microtomography is used to characterize not only the nal cellular
structure, but also the process of development of microstructure dur-
ing the fermentation stage. Secondly, the textural properties of the
baked bread are obtained by compression tests and nally, the senso-
rial quality of the nal product is also evaluated and correlated with
the above properties.
2. Materials and methods
2.1. Raw materials
Durum wheat our was supplied from Tandoi mill (Corato, Bari,
Italy), fresh compressed yeast and salt were purchased from a local
market, whereas dried sourdough was supplied from Bongiovanni
mill (Villanova Mondovi, Cuneo, Italy).
2.2. Breadmaking process
Dough mixing, processing and baking were performed on laboratory-
scale equipment. A double dough fermentation process was used.
The dough based on durum wheat (100%) was obtained with a
pre-mixture of 2.9 L of water, 100 g of salt, 1.5 kg of our and 100 mL
of extra virgin olive oil stirred at high speed for 10 min in a mixer
(Conti, Bussolengo, Verona, Italy). Once a homogeneous mixture was
obtained, it was transferred in a mixer with a higher capacity (Bernardi
Impastatrici, Cuneo, Italy). At this point yeast, 100 g of dry sourdough
and 3.0 kg of durum wheat our were added and mixed at the average
speed for 25 min. The amounts of yeast used to make the bread are the
following: 20 g (sample Br-y20), 50 g (sample Br-y50), 100 g (sample
Br-y100), 300 g (sample Br-y300), 400 g (sample Br-y400), 500 g (sam-
ple Br-y500). Afterwards, the dough was left to rest for 15 min before
adding more 100 mL of extra virgin olive oil. After complete mixing,
the dough rested in bulk in the incubator (Thermogel, Varese, Italy) for
a time of 15 min, at a temperature of 30 C and 85% of relative humidity.
Subsequently, portions of 1500 g were made, they were manually
rounded and placed above a baking tray in the incubator at the same
conditions, for the nal fermentation lasting 75 min. Following fermen-
tation, the samples were baked at 270 C for 55 min in an electric oven
(Europa Forni, Vicenza, Italy).
2.3. Tomographic analysis
In this study the microstructure properties of dough and bread
samples were determined using a Skyscan 1172 high-resolution desk-
top X-ray microtomography system (Skyscan, Belgium). The bread
samples were cylindrical in shape and diameter of 2.8 cm. Whereas
the dough samples, each weighing 1.5 g, were analyzed at two different
times of leavening (30 and 105 min). In particular, immediately after
the leavening period the dough samples were put in a cooling cell at
4 C for 20 min in order to stop the fermentation process during scan-
ning. Five replicates were carried out for each sample and all samples
were imaged as follows; each sample was placed on a rational plate;
the source and the detector were xed, while the sample was rotated
during measurement, a CCD camera with 2000 1048 pixels equipped
with power settings of 59 kV and 94 A was used. The distance
sourceobjectcamera was adjusted to produce images with a pixel
size of 2 m. Two-frame averaging, a rotation step of 0.70 and an expo-
sure time of 590 ms were chosen to minimize the noise, covering a view
of 360. Each scanning required an average of 20 min. A set of at cross
section images was obtained for each sample after tomographical re-
construction by the reconstruction software NRecon (Skyscan). Three-
dimensional reconstructions of samples were created by effectively
stacking all 2D tomographs, a total of 125 slice images with a slice spac-
ing of 0.069 mm.
For image processing and data analysis, the skyscan software,
CT-Analyzer (CTAn) was used. Image segmentation was rstly carried
out on the smoothed 8-bit grey-scale images obtained from the recon-
struction step, using CTAn (Skyscan) software. Segmentation is the pro-
cess of converting the grey-scale images into black and white images by
assigning the value 1 to all pixels whose intensity was below a given
grey tone value and 0 to all the others. For this, an automatic threshold
based on the entropy of the histogram (Sahoo et al., 1997) was calculat-
ed for each image. The lower grey threshold (8) and upper grey thresh-
old (110) values were identied; each sample was processed under the
same conditions. The following ve geometric parameters were mea-
sured using the CTAn software (Skyscan): percent object volume
(POV), object surface/volume ratio (OSVR), fragmentation index (FI),
degree of anisotropy (DA) and structure modeling index (SMI).
Where, i) POV is the proportion of the VOI (volume of interest) occu-
pied by void areas, i.e. holes; ii) OSVR is the basic parameter in charac-
terizing the complexity of the structures and is also the basis of
model-dependent estimates of thickness i.e. size and distribution of
holes present in each sample; iii) FI is an index of connectivity of struc-
ture, which was developed and dened by Hahn et al. (1992), it calcu-
lates the index of relative convexity or concavity of the total surface of
the sample; iv) DA is a measure of the preferential alignment of the
structure under investigation, i.e. pores and nally; v) SMI estimates
the characteristic form of which the structure is composed, i.e. whether
it is more plate-like, rod-like or even sphere-like (0= ideal plate, 3 =
cylinder and 4 = sphere).
2.4. Bread compression analysis
Bread sample rmness was determined instrumentally by means
of compression test using a Zwick/Roell model Z010 texture analyzer
(Zwick Roell Italia S.r.l., Genova, Italy). Cylindrical breadcrumb ali-
quots were placed between the parallel plates: an insert plate xed
in the universal work platform (100 90 9 mm) and a compression
die (75 mm diameter). The force required to compress slices of bread
to a predetermined level of penetration against a rigid back plate
using a cylindrical plunger was recorded for each sample tested. All
bread loaves were uniformly sliced to a thickness of 15 mm by using
an electric slicing knife (Ariete SL2045, Italy) that avoided crushing
the sample. Crumb samples with cylindrical in shape (28 mm diame-
ter) were cut from the center of each bread loaf using a circular cutter.
Trial specications were as follows: pre-load of 0.3 N; load cell of
 V. Lampignano et al. / Food Research International 50 (2013) 369376
1 kN; percentage deformation of 50%; and crosshead speed con-
stant of 100 mm/min. Ten measurements were carried out for
each sample.
2.5. Sensory analysis
Bread samples were submitted to a panel of ten trained tasters in
order to evaluate the sensorial attributes. The panelists were selected
on the basis of their sensory skills (ability to accurately determine and
communicate the sensory attributes such as appearance, odor, avor
and texture of a product) (Meilgaard, Civille, & Carr, 1999). Prior to
testing, the panelists were however trained in sensory vocabulary
and identication of particular attributes, by evaluating commercial
bread. The aim during the basic training was to develop each
member's sensory memory and their use of vocabulary and scales in
describing bread. Sessions were structured into two parts, where
the rst part included a theoretical lecture in sensory analyses and
the second part included tests focused on detecting and recognizing
smells and tastes. Finally, for specic training, the panel worked with
an assortment of commercial breads with marked differences between
them. Regular training sessions were held with standard tests to moni-
tor the ability of each panelist.
Once trained, the panelists were asked to indicate color, appearance,
crust and crumb rmness, large bubbles, odor and overall quality of
bread. The color is a measure to the pleasantness of the characteristic
golden brown of the bread surface. The appearance is a measure to
the appeal of the development of the bread during the baking. The rm-
ness is a measure of the pleasantness of crust and crumb to compression
by the teeth. The large bubble is a measure to the pleasantness of the
characteristic porosity of the crumb. The odor is related to the likeability
of the sensations perceived by olfaction. To this aim, a nine-point scale,
where 1 corresponded to extremely unpleasant, 9 to extremely pleasant
and 5 to satisfactory was used to quantify each attribute (Petitot, Boyer,
Minier, & Valrie Micard, 2010).
2.6. Statistical analysis
The mechanical, microstructural and sensorial properties of durum
wheat bread with different contents of yeast were evaluated in this
study. The results of the mechanical, microstructural and sensorial
analysis were compared by a one-way variance analysis (ANOVA). A
Duncan's multiple range tests, with the option of homogeneous groups
(pb 0.05), was carried out to determine signicant differences between
bread samples. STATISTICA 7.1 for Windows (StatSoft, Inc, Tulsa, OK,
USA) was used for this aim. Moreover, the interactions among the me-
chanical properties of the dough samples and the microstructural and
sensorial parameters of the manufactured bread were evaluated using
a correlation matrix.
3. Results and discussion
In this study six types of bread dough and breads varying in
yeast contents were investigated. With regard to the bread dough,
microtomographical analysis was carried out at 30 (T30) and 105
(T105) minutes of fermentation in order to analyze the effect of the
yeast content on bubble growth. Whereas for the breadcrumb samples,
the microstructure, texture and sensory properties were analyzed. Fur-
thermore the statistical correlations of these three properties are also
discussed.
3.1. Tomographic analysis
Fig. 1a to f shows few examples (Br-y20, Br-y100 and Br-y500) of
the grey level reconstructed cross section images of the samples ac-
quired by microtomographical analysis, the contrasts in these images
are based on the differences in absorption of X-rays by the constituents
371
of the sample (e.g. bread crumb and air/pore space). This contrast is
produced by a variation of density and a change in composition of the
sample and is based exclusively on the detection of an amplitude varia-
tion of X-rays transmitted through the sample itself. The obtained
image is a map of the spatial distribution of the X-rays in which the
brighter regions correspond to the higher level of attenuation, i.e. higher
density region. It can be seen from these gures that the black areas rep-
resent the voids and that there is an increment of the void spaces from
Fig. 1a to f. In addition, from these images it can also be noted that the
bread samples are not homogenous in structure but further information
cannot be acquired from these images, as these are only 2D representa-
tions of the samples.
Tables 1, 2 and 3 show the average values obtained for the micro-
structural parameters using the CTAn software (Skyscan) and the re-
sults of the statistical analysis were carried out as reported above for
the dough (T30 and T105) and baked bread samples respectively.
With regard to the POV parameter, in general it can be seen from
the results of these tables that the standard deviation values in
some case are very large, this is due to the large variations from this
bread structure that is not homogenous. At leavening time T30
there was an increase in the POV value up to BR-y50 after which
the POV values were statistically equal, whereas, at T105 the POV
values were statistically equal regardless of the quantity of yeast
added. With regard to the POV of the bread samples, Table 3, it can
be noted that an increase in the yeast content up to 300 g (sample
Br-y300) causes an increment in the POV value, after which the POV
stabilizes regardless of the increment in the quantity of yeast added.
This is due to the CO2 production rate that is strictly related to the
metabolism of the yeast with the consumption of the simple sugars
present in the our (Romano, Toraldo, Cavella, & Masi, 2007). In
this case as the our quantity is kept constant so is the simple sugars
amount present in the our and also the water content, it is therefore
not surprising that the POV that describes the percentage pore vol-
ume expansion reaches a maximum value even though the yeast
amount increases. These results conrm that the yeast content do
play an important role in bread porosity.
As stated above the SMI parameter, that is a topological index,
gives an estimate of the characteristic shape of a structure in terms
of plates and cylinders composing the 3D structure (Hildebrand &
Ruegsegger, 1997) and is calculated using a differential analysis of tri-
angulated surface of the structure under examination. The SMI as-
sumes integer values of 0, 3 and 4 for ideal plates, cylinder and
spheres, respectively (Hildebrand & Ruegsegger, 1997). It can be
noted for the dough samples T30 and T105, Tables 1 and 2, that the
SMI values calculated for all the samples range from almost 2 to 4,
suggesting that the characteristic shape of the pores present in all
the dough samples can be described as being anything from cylindri-
cal to a sphere and is not affected by the yeast content. While it can be
noted for the baked bread samples, Table 3, that the SMI values are all
statistically equal and have a narrow range of 2.2 to 2.9 and therefore
can be said to be almost cylindrical in shape.
With regard to FI parameter, i.e. the index of connectivity and there-
fore a measure of relative convexity or concavity of the total pore sur-
face, based on the principle that concavity indicates connectivity, and
convexity indicates isolated disconnected structures (Lim & Barigou,
2004). A relatively low FI value signies better-connected solid lattices
and has a negative index on the other hand a higher FI indicates a higher
presence of disconnected solid structure. As it can be noted from
Tables 1, 2 and 3 (i.e. from dough to bread), the FI is positive for all sam-
ples therefore it could be stated that the pores present in the all the
dough (T30 and T105) and bread samples have very thin to disconnect-
ed solid lattices and therefore convex in structure. In the dough samples
this could be due to the cells during proong becoming larger and
therefore having thinner cell walls which in turn leads to an increase
in the possibility for cell wall failure during baking hence the discon-
nected lattices in the bread cell structure.
372 V. Lampignano et al. / Food Research International 50 (2013) 369376

a) Dough Br-y20 d) Baked Bread Br-y20

10 mm 10 mm

b) Dough Br-y100 e) Baked Bread Br-y100

10 mm 10 mm

c) Dough Br-y500 f) Baked Bread Br-y500

10 mm 10 mm

Fig. 1. Grey-scale tomography of bread and dough samples. a) Dough Br-y20. b) Dough Br-y100. c) Dough Br-y500. d) Baked bread Br-y20. e) Baked Bread Br-y100. f) Baked Bread Br-y500.

OSVR indicates the ratio of the surface of the cell walls to the total
volume of the object (i.e. dough or bread). It can be noted from
Tables 1, 2 and 3 that there is an overall decrease of the OSVR from
dough to the baked bread samples. This is due to coalescence during
baking that causes the decrease in surface area due to the rupture
of thin lms which separate gas cells causing them to combine
(Campbell, 2003) and therefore leading to a structure formed by larger
pores. The degree of anisotropy (DA) is a measure of the 3D structural
symmetry, i.e. in this case it indicates the presence or absence of prefer-
ential alignment of the pores present in our samples along a particular
direction (Lim & Barigou, 2004). A value of 0 would correspond to
total isotropy, whereas a value of 1 would indicate total anisotropy.
According to the results obtained for DA for the dough samples at T30
and T105 (see Tables 1 and 2), the pores present can be said to be al-
most isotropic in nature and there are no statistical differences among
the samples. This shows that during the period of leavening of the
dough the samples have structures that are equally spaced and having
a consistent thickness. On the other hand, the DA values for the all the
bread samples are statistically equal and closer to 1 therefore it can be
said that the cells present in the baked bread samples are anisotropic
 V. Lampignano et al. / Food Research International 50 (2013) 369376 373

Table 1
Values of the geometric parameters for the dough samples analyzed after 30 min of leavening.

POV1 SMI2 FI3 OSVR4 DA5

Br-y20 0.04 0.03a 2.68 0.11a 0.02 0.007a 0.06 0.022a 0.18 0.05a
Br-y50 1.94 0.59a,b 2.79 0.70a 0.02 0.00a,b 0.08 0.00a 0.21 0.03a
Br-y100 3.77 1.52b 2.56 0.35a 0.01 0.005b 0.03 0.002b,c 0.26 0.06a
Br-y300 5.13 0.64b 3.30 0.04b 0.01 0.001b 0.02 0.003b,c 0.19 0.03a
Br-y400 3.97 3.28b 3.99 0.33b 0.01 0.005a,b 0.01 0.007c 0.25 0.05a
Br-y500 4.23 0.80b 2.60 0,12a 0.00 0.010b 0.01 0.002c 0.18 0.02a
a-c
Mean in the same column followed by different superscript letters differs signicantly (p b 0.05).
1
Percentage object volume.
2
Structure modeling index.
3
Fragmentation index.
4
Object surface volume ratio.
5
Degree of alignment.

in nature and having an irregular shape, this concurs with Scanlon and
Zghal (2001) who also showed that the cells present in bread are aniso-
tropic in nature.
3.2. Bread compression analysis
Texture of crumb bread is strongly related with the perception of
quality and seems to be a decisive criterion of consumer acceptability
(Gmbaro et al., 2002; Lassoued, Delarue, Launay, & Michon, 2008).
Thus, crumb bread can be described by textural properties through
attributes such as softness/hardness. Textural properties are greatly
inuenced by the size or the structure of the crumb cells and are
strongly determined by the quantity and quality of gluten protein in
the dough and the fermentation process.
Bread rmness was taken as the force required for compression of
the bread sample by 50% (named as F50%). In addition, the elastic
modulus, Emod, and the tenacity (the area under the forcedeformation
curve), W50%, were also evaluated. Results obtained from compression
tests applied on crumb of the investigated bread samples are illustrated
in Table 4. As can be inferred from the table, high values of Emod
were obtained for the Br-y20 and Br-y500 samples suggested that a
harder crumb was obtained when both the lowest and highest yeast
content were added to the bread formulation. Gmez et al. (2008)
found that white bread volume increased when yeast dose, fermenta-
tion time and temperature increased. This was the consequence of the
highest gas production due to yeast action in the fermentation process
and to the ability of dough to retain these gases. The increase of the
fermentation time and the yeast dose reduced initial rmness in
white and whole breads because of the increment in volume that
fermentation generated in bread.
Wheat bread dough is a multiphase and multicomponent system
comprising proteins polysaccharides, lipids, water, gas and other
minor nutrients. It has a foam structure, with continuously growing
gas bubbles dispersed in an apparently homogenous semi-solid aque-
ous dough phase (Gan et al., 1999). As stated above the yeast in bak-
ing is used as a leavening agent; it converts the fermentable sugars
present in dough into the gas carbon dioxide therefore causing the
dough to expand or rise as gas forms pockets or bubbles. When the
dough is baked, the yeast dies and the air pockets set, giving the
baked product a soft and spongy texture (Shah, Campbell, Dale, &
Rudder, 1999). In this case, the lowest yeast amount of the Br-y20
sample did not allow the gas bubbles formation by causing a compact
and closed structure that increased the elastic modulus. Baker and
Mize (1937) reported that very few bubbles are produced in bread
baked from dough mixed under vacuum. On the other hand, the addi-
tion to the bread of the highest yeast content (sample Br-y400) per-
mitted the formation of a greater number of bubbles in the crumb
but with a different structure compared to the other samples that
during the baking caused a more hard crumb statistically similar to
the Br-y20 sample. In fact, it has been proposed that extensive coales-
cence and disproportionation of gas cells do occur during fermenta-
tion (van Vliet, 1999) and this may ultimately lead to coarsening in
the bread crumb structure (Wiggins, 1998). Subsequently, in the
nal dough-rise step high amount of yeast may lead to a collapse in
the structure of the cell walls and an associated loss in product qual-
ity. All the other investigated samples showed a behavior that is
bracketed between that of sample Br-y20 and that of sample Br-y500
according to bread yeast content.
Regarding the F50% parameter, signicantly dissimilar values were
recorded among some samples. In particular, the strongest sample
was represented by the Br-y20 sample which means that it had
greatest resistance to deformation. As said above for the Emod, the
crumb remained hard and compact required a great force for the
compression of the bread sample. The lowest value of F50% recorded

Table 2
Values of the geometric parameters for the dough samples analyzed after 105 min of leavening.

POV1 SMI2 FI3 OSVR4 DA5

a a,b a a
Br-y20 2.74 1.06 2.28 0.43 0.008 0.007 0.03 0.005 0.25 0.03a
Br-y50 4.70 2.77a 2.07 0.52a 0.006 0.00a 0.03 0.007a 0.24 0.04a
Br-y100 4.11 0.71a 2.26 0.37a,b 0.006 0.005a 0.03 0.002a 0.27 0.04a
Br-y300 6.81 4.59a 2.56 0.29a,b 0.008 0.001a 0.025 0.007a 0.22 0.028a
Br-y400 4.11 3.25a 2.79 0.09b 0.011 0.005a 0.031 0.009a 0.17 0.01a
Br-y500 3.64 3.60a 2.79 0.13b 0.013 0.01a 0.034 0.010a 0.19 0.06a
a-b
Mean in the same column followed by different superscript letters differs signicantly (p b 0.05).
1
Percentage object volume.
2
Structure modeling index.
3
Fragmentation index.
4
Object surface volume ratio.
5
Degree of alignment.
374 V. Lampignano et al. / Food Research International 50 (2013) 369376

Table 3
Values of the geometric parameters for the bread samples.

POV1 SMI2 FI3 OSVR4 DA5

Br-y20 37.16 7.7a 2.90 0.3a 0.002 0.002a 0.012 0.001a 0.642 0.079a
Br-y50 42.79 9.3a,b 2.25 0.5a 0.001 0.001a,b 0.009 0.002a,b 0.654 0.068a
Br-y100 44.85 9.6a,b 2.82 0.6a 0.001 0.001a,b 0.008 0.001b 0.698 0.046a
Br-y300 58.16 9.1b 2.36 0.58a 0.000 0.001b 0.005 0.001c 0.631 0.048a
Br-y400 56.01 6.9b 2.29 0.3a 0.000 0.001b 0.006 0.002c 0.615 0.058a
Br-y500 57.13 4.8b 2.22 0.6a 0.000 0.000c 0.006 0.001c 0.617 0.055a
a-c
Mean in the same column followed by different superscript letters differs signicantly (p b 0.05).
1
Percentage object volume.
2
Structure modeling index.
3
Fragmentation index.
4
Object surface volume ratio.
5
Degree of alignment.

for the Br-y50, Br-y300 and Br-y400 samples suggested the greater
softness of these samples compared to all samples. On the other
hand, the Br-y100 and Br-y500 samples had behaviour intermediate
between the samples described above.
The results obtained for the tenacity are according with what was
said above. In particular, the highest W50% value was obtained for the
Br-y20 sample, whereas the same trend of the F50% parameter was
found for the other samples.
3.3. Sensory analysis
is mainly governed by the gluten network (Lookhart, 1997). When
sufcient yeast is present and therefore sufcient gas is formed, a
strong gluten structure is necessary to hold this gas and counterbal-
ance its pressure. High yeast levels however may be disadvantageous;
in fact, the weakened gluten structure is unable to cope with the in-
crease in gas associated with the increasing yeast levels and this
caused the collapsed of the structure.
The other samples showed very positive characteristics, with the
exception of the Br-y400 sample that had a score of overall quality
near to the limit (5.6) because of the lower odor and appearance
values.

Table 5 shows the sensorial properties of durum wheat bread with

different yeast contents. Results highlighted that the maximum score
3.4. Correlations
of overall quality (up to 8.0) was obtained by the Br-y50 and Br-y100
samples. Samples with the lowest and the highest yeast content
In order to evaluate the correlations among microstructural, sen-
(Br-y20 and Br-y500 samples) showed an overall quality score at the
sorial and mechanical parameters a principal component analysis
threshold limit (i.e. 5.0). Regarding the Br-y20 sample, this result was
(PCA) was performed and the results were listed in Table 6. Regard-
due principally to the compact crumb with the presence of smaller bub-
ing the microstructural parameters of dough (T30) and bread and
bles and to a higher crust rmness that also caused an appearance not
dough (T105) and bread, it can be noted from the table that there is
pleasant. This result was due to the limited amounts of gas that was
a signicant correlation only between the POV and OSVR parameters
present in the dough caused by very low levels of yeast and that affected
both in dough as well as in that of the baked bread samples, in general
the bread structure. In particular, crumb softness or rmness is the tex-
an increase in POV leads to a decrease in OSVR. As stated above, dur-
tural property, which has attracted most attention in bread assessment
ing baking the rupture of the cell walls leads to the formation of larger
because of its close association with human perception of freshness
pores therefore a decrease in surface to volume ratio and an increase
(Cauvain, 1998).
in percentage volume of the pores. Table 6 also shows the correlation
Regarding the investigated sample with the highest yeast content
results for the microstructural and mechanical parameters of the
(sample Br-y500), the only parameters that remained unacceptable
bread samples. It can be noted from this table that there are no strong
were the odor and the appearance. In particular, the bread showed
correlations among the microstructural and mechanical parameters
a low loaf volume and a smell unpleasant of yeast. Loaf specic vol-
but there is a signicantly strong correlation between F50% (crumb
ume depends on two principle factors, the amount of gas produced
strength, i.e. peak resistance to deformation) and W50% (crumb work,
and the gas holding capacity of the dough system. The gas holding ca-
i.e. area between trigger point and peak resistance to deformation).
pacity of the dough system on the other hand depends on the physi-
This is true as the size of the force required for a breadcrumb deforma-
cochemical structure of the dough, which, in the case of wheat dough,
tion is directly correlated to the area under the compression curve and
therefore the W50%. Table 6 shows that, the increase of POV led to a de-
crease of both F50% and W50%. Therefore an increase of the yeast content
does not only have an increasing effect on the percentage volume of
Table 4 pores but also a decreasing effect of the force required for compression
Compression test of the investigated bread samples. of the bread sample by 50% and the tenacity of the bread sample. It can
Sample Emod1 F50%2 W50%3 also be noted from this table that the higher OSVR values, hence a larger
Br-y20 0.98 0.12c
7.69 1.09a
24.99 2.51a
quantity of smaller sized pores, led to an increase of both the force re-
Br-y50 0.54 0.13a 2.76 0.49d 10.41 1.81c quired for compression of the bread sample and the tenacity as a higher
Br-y100 0.45 0.15a 5.48 1.61b 16.22 2.98b OSVR leads to a crumb network that during the baking process results in
Br-y300 0.67 0.15a,b 3.49 0.82c,d 12.91 3.15b,c a rmer bread structure.
Br-y400 0.64 0.12a,b 3.06 0.58d 10.37 1.85c
With regard to the correlations among the microstructural and
Br-y500 0.83 0.14b,c 5.09 0.88b,c 16.22 2.96b
sensorial parameters, listed in Table 6, there are signicant correla-
a-d
Mean in the same column followed by different superscript letters differs tions among the sensorial parameters for crust and crumb rmness,
signicantly (p b 0.05).
1
Elastic modulus.
large bubble and overall quality. In leavened baked products, texture
2
Force required for compression of the bread sample by 50%. (crust and crumb rmness) of crumb bread is strongly related with
3
Tenacity. the perception of quality and seems to be a decisive criterion of
 V. Lampignano et al. / Food Research International 50 (2013) 369376 375

Table 5
Sensory characteristics of the investigated bread samples.

Color Appearance Crust Firmness Crumb Firmness Large bubbles Odor Overall quality

Br-y20 8.0 0.0a 5.7 0.95a,b 5.2 0.95a 4.75 0.95a 5.0 0.7a 6.75 0.28a 5.0 0.7a
Br-y50 7.8 0.28a 7.8 0.28c,d 6.8 0.85b,c 7.8 0.28b 7.4 0.48b 7.4 0.63b,c 7.5 0.57c
Br-y100 8.0 0.0a 8.3 0.57d 8.0 0.0c 7.8 0.28b 7.8 0.28b 8.0 0.0c 8.0 0.0c
Br-y300 7.6 0.48a 6.7 0.95b,c 7.4 0.48b,c 7.5 0.57b 7.4 0.48b 7.5 0.57b,c 6.7 0.28b,c
Br-y400 7.6 0.48a 5.5 0.63a,b 7.6 0.48b,c 7.6 0.48b 7.6 0.48b 6.8 0.85b,c 5.6 0.94a,b
Br-y500 7.8 0.28a 5.0 0.70a 6.7 0.28b 7.6 0.48b 7.4 0.63b 4.75 0.95b 4.75 0.95a
a-d
Mean in the same column followed by different superscript letters differs signicantly (p b 0.05).

consumer acceptability (Gmbaro, Varela, & Gimenez, 2002; Lassoued
et al., 2008). Thus, bread can be described by textural properties
through attributes such as softness/hardness. In addition, texture at-
tributes, without a doubt, contribute strongly to consumer freshness
perceptions (Gmbaro et al., 2002; Heenan, Dufour, Hamid, Harvey,
& Delahunty, 2008; Jensen, Oestdal, & Thybo, 2010). Textural proper-
ties are also greatly inuenced by the size or the structure of the
crumb cells (Callejo, 2011) and in this study are also therefore deter-
mined by the quantity of the yeast added to the dough. With regard to
the quality, Pyler (1988), using a consumer acceptance test, found
that breadcrumb structure (i.e. crumb and crust rmness) accounts
for approximately 20% of the judgment of bread quality. Table 6 high-
lights that the increase of POV due to the increase of the yeast content
caused an increase of the sensorial parameters such as crust and
crumb rmness and large bubbles. In fact, the breads with higher
POV values had a higher loaf volume with a soft crumb characterized
by the presence of large pores. These latter are desirable attributes of
certain bread types including the bread samples of this study. Whereas,
higher OSVR values caused a decrease of the sensorial attributes de-
scribed above, therefore it can be stated that for this type of bread
high OSVR values do negatively affect the organoleptic quality. Regard-
ing the overall quality, none of the investigated microstructural param-
eters were signicantly correlated with the overall quality of the bread.
This result was due to the fact that the overall quality was more mark-
edly affected from other parameters such as odor and appearance
attributes.

Table 6
The correlation results for the microstructural, mechanical and sensorial parameters of the semolina bread samples.

Microstructural bread and dough (T30) parameters

POV_bread OSVR_bread POVdoughT30 OSVRdoughT30

POV_bread1 1 0.964849 0.767207 0.817267

OSVR_bread2 1 0.716276 0.747577
POV dough T301,3 1 0.989268
OSVR dough T302,3 1

Microstructural bread and dough (T105) parameters

POV_bread OSVR_bread POVdoughT105 OSVRdoughT105

POV_bread 1 0.964849 0.54213 0.316955

OSVR_bread 1 0.65445 0.427351
POV dough T1054 1 0.894508
OSVR dough T1054 1

Microstructural and mechanical bread parameters

POV OSVR Emod F50% W50%

POV1 1 0.964849 0.103768 0.550221 0.563931

OSVR2 1 0.352895 0.659005 0.691898
Emod5 1 0.623682 0.708809
F50%6 1 0.984908
W50%7 1

Microstructural and sensorial bread parameters

POV OSVR Crust rmness Crumb rmness Large bubbles Overall quality

POV 1 0.964849 0.545882 0.596784 0.622566 0.215446

OSVR 1 0.729552 0.762240 0.788618 0.045071
Crust rmness 1 0.868936 0.924074 0.600681
Crumb rmness 1 0.990197 0.514930
Large bubbles 1 0.511535
Overall quality 1
1
Percentage object volume.
2
Object surface volume ratio.
3
Dough samples analyzed after 30 min leavening.
4
Dough samples analyzed after 105 min leavening.
5
Elastic modulus.
6
Force required for compression of the bread sample by 50%.
7
Tenacity.
376 V. Lampignano et al. / Food Research International 50 (2013) 369376
4. Conclusions
It can be concluded from this study that varying the yeast content
in bread does affect the microstructural properties and hence in turn
affects the mechanical and sensorial properties of bread. With regard
to the microstructure analysis of dough and baked bread, X-ray
microtomography (CT) has proven to be a very useful tool. With
CT, image analysis of the full 3-D microstructure, measuring the
size, shape, networking/connectivity and distribution of various
phases was possible. These measurements represent the full 3-D mi-
crostructure, which is not always possible by 2-D image analysis
using statistical techniques. The sensory property of bread, which is
still a challenge, requires a better understanding of relationships be-
tween composition, cellular structure formation mechanisms and
nal texture. Although the correlation of the CT and mechanical
analysis did not identify important relationships between these two
properties, it did on the other hand identify a strong correlation be-
tween the POV and OSVR microstructural parameters hence indirectly
correlated to the rmness of the bread structure. With regard to the cor-
relations among the microstructural and sensorial parameters, impor-
tant correlations of the POV, OSVR and some sensorial parameters
were identied. The identication of the microstructural, mechanical
and sensorial structure relationships is of importance as these relation-
ships strongly affect the physiochemical, functional, technological and
even nutritional properties of foods.
References
Baker, J. C., & Mize, M. D. (1937). Mixing doughs in vacuum and in the presence of
various gases. Cereal Chemistry, 14, 721734.
Callejo, M. A. (2011). Present situation on the descriptive sensory analysis of bread.
Journal of Sensory Studies, 26, 255268.
Campbell, G. M. (2003). Bread aeration. In S. P. Cauvain (Ed.), Breadmaking: Improving
quality (pp. 352374). Cambridge: Woodhead.
Cauvain, S. P. (1998). Bread the product. In S. P. Cauvain, & L. S. Young (Eds.), Technology
of breadmaking (pp. 117). London: Blackie.
Chen, P., Whitney, L. F., & Peleg, M. (1994). Some tensile characteristics of bread crumb.
Journal of Texture Studies, 25, 299310.
Gmbaro, A., Varela, P., & Gimenez, A. (2002). Textural quality of white pan bread by
sensory and instrumental measurements. Journal of Texture Studies, 33, 401413.
Gan, Z., van der Graaf, J., Leonard, S. A., Brooker, B. E., Parker, M. L., & Schoeld, J. D.
(1999). The role of wheat proteins and polar lipids in the stabilisation of the foam
structure of dough. In G. M. Campbell, C. Webb, S. S. Pandiella, & K. Niranjan (Eds.),
Bubbles in food (pp. 8993). St Paul: Eagan Press.
Gmez, M., Oliete, B., Pando, V., Ronda, F., & Caballero, P. A. (2008). Effect of fermenta-
tion conditions on bread staling kinetics. European Food Research and Technology,
226, 13791387.
Hahn, M., Vogel, M., Pompesius-Kempa, M., & Delling, G. (1992). Trabecular bone pat-
tern factor - a new parameter for simple quantication of bone microarchitecture.
Bone, 13, 397330.
Heenan, S. P., Dufour, J., Hamid, N., Harvey, W., & Delahunty, C. M. (2008). The sensory
quality of fresh bread: Descriptive attributes and consumer perceptions. Food Re-
search International, 41(10), 989997.
Hildebrand, T., & Ruegsegger, P. (1997). A new method for the model independent as-
sessment of thickness in three dimensional images. Journal of Microscopy, 185,
6775.
Jensen, S., Oestdal, H., & Thybo, A. K. (2010). Sensory proling of changes in wheat and
whole wheat bread during a prolonged period of storage. Journal of Sensory Studies,
25, 231245.
Lassoued, N., Delarue, J., Launay, B., & Michon, C. (2008). Baked product texture: Corre-
lations between instrumental and sensory characterization using ash prole.
Journal of Cereal Science, 48, 133143.
Lim, K. S., & Barigou, M. (2004). X-ray micro-tomography of cellular food products.
Food Research International, 37, 10011012.
Liu, Z., & Scanlon, M. G. (2002). Understanding and modeling the processing-mechanical
property relationship of bread crumb assessed by indentation. Cereal Chemistry, 79,
763767.
Lookhart, G. L. (1997). New methods helping to solve the gluten puzzle. Cereal Foods
World, 42, 1619.
Meilgaard, M., Civille, G. V., & Carr, B. T. (1999). Sensory evaluation techniques (3rd ed.).
Boca Raton: CRC Press.
Petitot, M., Boyer, L., Minier, C., & Valrie Micard, V. (2010). Fortication of pasta with
split pea and faba bean ours: Pasta processing and quality evaluation. Food Research
International, 43(2), 634641.
Pyler, E. J. (1988). Baking science and technology, II. (pp. 850910): Merriam: Sosland
Publishing Co.
Romano, A., Toraldo, G., Cavella, S., & Masi, P. (2007). Description of leavening of bread
dough with mathematical modeling. Journal of Food Engineering, 83, 142148.
Sahoo, P. K., Slaaf, D. W., & Albert, T. A. (1997). Threshold selection using a minimal his-
togram entropy difference. Optical Engineering, 36(7), 19761981.
Scanlon, M. G., Fahloul, D., & Sapirstein, H. D. (1997). A measure of fracture toughness
of bread crumb. Cereal Chemistry, 74, 612613.
Scanlon, M. G., Sapirstein, H. D., & Fahloul, D. (2000). Mechanical properties of bread
crumb prepared from ours of different dough strength. Journal of Cereal Science,
32, 235243.
Scanlon, M. G., & Zghal, M. C. (2001). Bread properties and crumb structure. Food
Research International, 34, 841864.
Shah, P., Campbell, G. M., Dale, C., & Rudder, A. (1999). Modelling bubble growth during
proving of bread dough: Predicting the output from the Chopin rheofermentometer.
In G. M. Campbell, C. Webb, S. S. Pandiella, & K. Niranjan (Eds.), Bubbles in food
(pp. 95106). St Paul: Eagan Press.
Shah, P., Campbell, G. M., McKee, S. L., & Rielly, C. D. (1998). Proving of bread dough:
Modelling the growth of individual bubbles. Transactions of the Institution of Chemical
Engineers, Part C, 76, 7379.
Swyngedau, S., & Peleg, M. (1992). Characterisation and prediction of the compressive
stressstrain relationship of layered arrays of spongy baked goods. Cereal Chemis-
try, 69, 217221.
van Vliet, T. (1999). Physical factors determining gas cell stability in a dough during bread
making. In G. M. Campbell, C. Webb, S. S. Pandiella, & K. Niranjan (Eds.), Bubbles in
food (pp. 121127). St Paul: Eagan Press.
Wiggins, C. (1998). Proving, baking and cooling. In S. P. Cauvain, & L. S. Young (Eds.),
Technology of breadmaking (pp. 120148). London: Blackie.
Zghal, M. C., Scanlon, M. G., & Sapirstein, H. D. (2001). Effects of our strength, baking
absorption and processing conditions on the structure and mechanical properties
of bread crumb. Journal of Cereal Science, 78, 17.