Mechanical properties of bread crumb prepared from flours of different dough strength

Bread quality depends in part on the textural properties of the crumb; softness and strength being two important textural attributes. This study examined differences between instrumentally-measured textural properties of the crumb of bread made from two flours; one possessing extra strong dough mixing characteristics and a second of moderate strength (red spring wheat). Bread crumb specimens, notched and un-notched, were subjected to tensile loading and the crumb's initial (elastic) modulus, stress at failure (crumb strength) and tear resistance were determined. The same mechanical parameters were determined on bread crumb that had been compressed approximately five-fold in order to destroy crumb structure. For un-notched specimens, stiffness and strength were of the order of 11 and 1 kN/m(2), respectively, whereas after compression they were 230 and 10 kN/m(2), respectively. For CWRS breadcrumb, toughness increased from 4.2 J/m(2) to 12.3 J/m(2) following crumb compression. Bread crumb made from a flour possessing extra strong dough properties was stronger than bread crumb made from a more conventional red spring wheat flour, and there was an indication that extra strong flour bread crumb specimens were stiffer. Compression of the bread crumb lessened the difference between the mechanical properties of the two bread types, particularly for strength and tear resistance. The results indicated that bread crumb structure plays a predominant role in the textural properties of bread crumb. (C) 2000 Academic Press.