Variations of the sensory profile of durum wheat Altamura PDO (protected designation of origin) bread during staling

The typical sensory characteristics of Altamura PDO (protected designation of origin) bread are due to both the use of durum wheat remilled semolina and the prolonged sponge-dough method based on sourdough. In this paper the sensory properties of Altamura bread were evaluated during a period of 6 days from baking. A total number of 24 descriptors were considered. The obtained results indicated that during the whole storage period many of the desirable characters such as crust consistence, crumb elasticity, crumb cohesiveness, overall aroma, and sour aroma decreased, while the undesirable stale aroma and crumb consistence increased their intensity. In any case, after 4 days from the production crumb color, crumb grain, crumb elasticity, and crumb humidity did not vary significantly.