Oral processing of bread: Implications of designing healthier bread products

Background: Due to global health concerns, it becomes imperative to re-design bread products with reduced glycaemic index, lower salt content and sustained consumer acceptability. This requires an in-depth understanding of the physics of the transformation of bread to bolus as well as people's sensory perception. Scope and approach: This article provides a critical review of bread oral processing, from ingestion to perception. Structure-property-oral processing relationship is the key approach to understand sensory perception in relation to bread characteristics and oral physiology. The significance of bread heterogeneity and changes in chewing ability, especially the contrast between bread crust and crumb and ageing conditions, are highlighted. Key findings and conclusions: Bread structure has a significant impact on people chewing behaviour, bolus formation and sensory perceptions. In particular, bread crust increased chewing effort, saliva impregnation and structure disintegration, which led to the desired complexity in texture and aroma perceptions but a slower sodium release. Three major implications for re-designing bread of improved health benefits are: 1) bread need to be considered as a heterogeneous matrix with both crust and crumb to be re-engineered; 2) transformation from bread to bolus is the critical step to monitor and regulate the desired health benefits, be it slower digestion or a faster sodium release; 3) human oral physiology especially changes in chewing ability due to ageing needs to be considered for a balanced design for slow digestion and easy chewing.

Automated summary

This article critically reviews the oral processing of bread, emphasizing the significant impact of bread structure on people's chewing behavior, bolus formation, and sensory perceptions. It highlights the implications for re-designing bread for improved health benefits, such as considering bread as a heterogeneous matrix and monitoring the transformation from bread to bolus for desired health effects. Additionally, changes in human oral physiology, especially in chewing ability due to aging, need to be taken into consideration for a balanced design for slow digestion and easy chewing.