The use of substitute bakery ingredients and measuring the effect of texture

There is a growing interest in the bakery industry involving the improvement of the nutritional profile of bakery products. One of the most common ways to improve this nutritional profile is by the use of substitute ingredients, including replacements for carbohydrates, proteins, and fats.

Carbohydrates can have a negative influence on the metabolism, and their excess consumption can lead to obesity, diabetes and tooth decay. However, they are responsible for the structure and texture of many bakery products.

The lipid profile of a bakery product might be altered by substitution. For example, saturated fats have a large impact on the incidence of cardiovascular disease. However, there are useful alternatives to traditional oils and butters with large amounts of omega 3 and other components that can mitigate these problems.

Other relevant aspects are related to allergies concerning egg proteins, gluten or requirements for vegan consumers. Several studies have been performed in this line, replacing eggs with milk serum, different mucilages obtained from legumes, and some gums.

A lot of research has been carried out showing the possibility of successfully replacing (both at technological and sensory levels) less healthy ingredients with others that are nutritionally better. The challenge is to combine these better components in any given product, as well as to evaluate possible interactions among them. These interactions can to lead to alterations to the product’s texture. Biscuit hardness might change, measured using a penetration test; dough properties can be affected, measured using a Dough Inflation System; or final product volume may be altered, which a manufacturer would be able to monitor using a Volscan Profiler.

There have been countless publications of research into the use of substitutes in the bakery industry using Texture Analysers, in both academic and industrial settings. Some examples of the most recent research are outlined below.

Researchers from the Shiraz University of Medical Sciences have been investigating the selection of appropriate hydrocolloids for eggless cakes containing chubak root extract using a multiple criteria decision-making approach. The aim of this study was to choose the best hydrocolloid to make eggless cakes, where egg was replaced with Chubak root extract. The effect of xanthan gum, guar gum and carrageenan gum were investigated on functional properties of batter (microstructure, consistency, density, textural properties) and cake (volume, density, texture, colour and sensory attributes). The best hydrocolloid was selected using TOPSIS (Technique for Order Performance by Similarity to Ideal Solution), which is one of the best multiple criteria decision-making approaches. They used their TA.XT2 Texture Analyser to perform textural tests on samples. The eggless cakes containing guar gum showed the best quality compared with other hydrocolloid-containing eggless cakes. Read more

Scientists from the University of Kashmir have been researching the encapsulation of saffron and sea buckthorn bioactives, looking into their utilisation for the development of low glycemic baked products for the growing diabetic population of the world. In this study, bioactive compounds from saffron and sea buckthorn were extracted using ultrasound-assisted extraction. The extracted bioactive compounds were encapsulated in sodium alginate. Further, the encapsulated powders were added in the wheat flour (1%) to prepare functional cookies and its effect on structural, thermal and antioxidant properties were studied. They used their TA.XT2 Texture Analyser to measure cookie texture. FTIR revealed a difference in the intensity of peaks between free and encapsulated saffron and sea buckthorn bioactives. The in-vitro digestibility assay of cookies enriched with saffron and sea buckthorn showed slow digestion of cookies - it hinders starch digestion and this approach is expected to design low glycemic bakery products for the growing diabetic population of the world. Additionally, the cookies developed from encapsulated powder showed better consumer acceptability as compared to cookies with free bioactives. Read more

Researchers from Sejong University have been investigating turanose as a sugar alternative in a frozen dough system, including rheology, tomography and baking performance. They used their TA.XTplus Texture Analyser to measure tensile properties and their Volscan Profiler 600 to measure specific loaf volume. The use of turanose for sugar did not negatively affect the thermo-mechanical parameters of wheat dough. In the case of thermal properties, the gelatinisation temperature was lowered by turanose from 68 to 64°C. The dynamic viscoelastic measurements demonstrated that the turanose-incorporated doughs showed more viscous characteristics by showing greater decreases in the storage modulus that could also be related to greater dough extensibility. When the frozen doughs were baked, the turanose-incorporated bread showed a significant increase in its specific loaf volume from 4.23 to 4.41 mL/g. These volume differences could be attributed to the inner structural characteristics (increased total volume of pore space and total porosity) of the breads measured by the tomographic analysis. Furthermore, the positive effects of turanose on the soft texture of frozen dough breads were distinctly observed. Read more  

Texture Analysis is a mandatory stage in the Research and Development of ingredient-substituted bakery products, when texture can be altered by the addition of different quantities of ingredients, and must be measured after each iteration of ingredient or process modifications. 

There is a Texture Analysis test for virtually any physical property. Contact Stable Micro Systems today to learn more about our full range of solutions.

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For more information on how to measure texture, please visit the Texture Analysis Properties section on our website.

The TA.XTplus texture analyser is part of a family of texture analysis instruments and equipment from Stable Micro Systems. An extensive portfolio of specialist attachments is available to measure and analyse the textural properties of a huge range of food products. Our technical experts can also custom design instrument fixtures according to individual specifications.

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