Bread-Making: Exploring the Physicochemical Changes - Essay Sample

Introduction

There is a relationship between the bread making process and physical and chemical properties. There are various ingredients required in the bread making process, and they undergo some physicochemical changes for the best results to be attained. A mixture of water, flour, salt, sugar, yeast, and other ingredients are the ones needed to make bread. The basic process in breadmaking is mixing the ingredients to the point where the flour becomes dough. For bread to be of good quality, the dough should be made in a process in which it will make it extensible for relaxation and expansion during rising (Sivam and Perera 2010, p 171). A good dough must be elastic to hold gases which are produced during rising. It should be well stable so that it can maintain its cellular structure and its shape.

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Two proteins are present in the flour known as gliadin and glutenin which when mixed with water they form gluten. Gluten is the one responsible for giving the dough these ordinary properties. It is important to note that in bread making gluten is very important due to its influence in the kneading, baking, and the mixing properties of the dough. There are other ingredients in bread baking apart from the basic ones, and they include fat, milk and its products, oxidants, malt, and its products, antimicrobial agents and also surfactants. All these ingredients are useful and undergo some physicochemical changes to help in the result of good bread.

Water is used to help flour transform into a viscous dough which holds the gas produced in fermentation, and it is also significant in giving a medium of any chemical reaction occurrence (Farahnaky and Hill 2007, p.506). Yeast also an ingredient serves a role of fermenting sugars and producing ethanol and carbon dioxide gas and also produces a leavened bread. Fat is used to increase the shelf life of the bread and give it a soft texture as well (Koletta, Irakli and Skendi 2014, p563). Ascorbic acid, potassium iodate, and potassium bromate which are some of the oxidizing agents used in bread making are used to increase the dough strength, softness and the volume of the loaf. To prevent mold growth surfactants are used.

During the mixing process, the wheat dough there can be some biaxial or uni-axial deformations. However, the hydration of the flour and the proteins occur together with the alignment and the stretching of the proteins which leads to a property of gas retaining due to the three -dimensional structure formed which is elastic. Starch, water, and protein are a major contribution to the rheological structure in the wheat dough. The protein structure is then used to form gluten, but this needs enough amount of water during the mixing process for mechanical energy input which is enough and proper hydration. The viscoelastic networks in the dough bring the texture of the finished bread.

During fermentation, the metabolism of yeast releases carbon dioxide and grows air bubbles which were incorporated initially in the mixing process and led to the expansion of the dough. This helps in inflating to the large volume and cell walls that are thinner before collapsing. Gas bubbles formed during fermentation and the baking process are used to determine the structure of the bread texture and the volume. Yeast helps in breaking down sugars and starch or rather the carbohydrates into alcoholic fermentation and also carbon dioxide. To speed up the reaction of yeast breaking down the carbohydrates, enzymes present in the flour and yeast are used. The carbon dioxide produced in this reaction is helpful in the rising of the dough. During the baking process, the alcohol produced evaporates. In the fermentation process, every cell in the yeast forms a center in which the bubbles in carbon dioxide are released. Many small bubbles, every one of them surrounded by a thin film of gluten, increases as the fermentation process increases. During the process of remixing and kneading, large gas bubbles are released giving a well and more distribution of the bubbles in the dough (Crockett and Vodovotz 2011, p.279). The size of the bubbles, the distribution and also the distribution during fermentation is vital in the end product and the quality in terms of volume and also appearance.

When the oven heat is intense and penetrates the dough, there is an expansion of the gas inside the dough. The rate of fermentation and the production of the gas cell increases during the temperature rise, and it is a continuous process until when the temperature of the yeast of inactivation is attained. During the denaturing of the proteins, the gluten in each gas cell is transformed into some rigid structures that bring about the bread crumb (Gamel, Abdel and Tosh 2015 p. 81). The enzymes available in the dough are at this point inactivated at various temperatures in the baking process. The sugars and the protein breakdowns from the activity of the enzyme can sweeten the crumbs of the bread and help the non-enzymes reactions to bring the brown effect (Marpalle, Sonawane and Arya 2014, p 619).

Gluten proteins have been considered to be among the man determinants of the quality of bread due to the formation of the dough's backbone structure. Freezing is a process done on the dough to increase its shelf life (MacRitchie 2009, p.45). During the process of manufacturing frozen dough, there is hydration done to manage and maintain good quality (Wang, Jin and Xu 2015 p. 190). Freezing storage is done to lengthen the storage time of the dough and determine its quality.

In general, physicochemical changes are vital in the making of the bread in such that they help in producing a high-quality end product. All ingredients in bread making are mixed at various proportions to form the dough which is viscoelastic and subjected to fermentation (Tulyathan 2002, p. 39). These physicochemical reactions are employed on the ingredients by fermenting wheat sugars which are obtained from starch (Selomulyo and Zhou 2007, p.12). Once the physical and chemical processes are followed well, they create a desirable bread or product. Reactions of the ingredients can vary depending on the type of ingredients used or depending on the levels of fibre in the dough. There are so many physicochemical reactions that take place during the mixing, baking, and fermentation of the dough like water evaporation, protein denaturation, crust formation and also volume expansion.

For people with diabetes, it becomes a challenge when they need to eat bread and they cannot because it has many carbohydrates, increases weight and can bring health irregularities in a diabetic patient (Poutanen, Flander and Katina 2009, p.694). To favor these types of patients, sourdough bread can be introduced because it has very many advantages on their health. This type of bread has a low index of glycaemic and helps in leveling blood sugar and insulin levels which can prevent or control diabetes and insulin resistance (Brennan 2005, p.569). All bread types are different according to the type of grains used, the method used to process the grains, and how the baking is done. The variance in the bread making process affects the composition of the ingredients used and how the bread will be metabolized in a human's body. It also affects the speed of digestion once eaten and how the body breaks and absorbs the starch available.

Sough dough's grain in most cases the wheat is fermented using lactic acid bacteria and yeasts. In such a process there is metabolization of the grain by the bacteria and production of lactic acid. This helps in reducing the sugar level or content and increasing lactic acid. Most bread especially the white ones are processed highly and contain many contents of carbohydrates, and the starch present is digested quickly (Asif 2014). This produces a high level of glycemic response, and that means the blood sugar level rises at a striking speed. A lot of glucose means an increase in insulin concentration and this is not good for diabetic patients(Dewettinck, Kunhe, and Bockstaele 2008 p.247). In sough dough, the fermentation process is done differently in such that it lowers the index of glycemic.

Sourdough is helpful and can be a better option for diabetic people because it has gut bacteria which helps in digestion and it influences the response of sugar in the blood. It is a bread which is also rich in minerals like iron, manganese, and iron. Alternatively, another bread type can be produced with a low concentration of carbohydrates. Different bread types are made using the baker's yeast which softens and sweetens the bread quick but if wild yeast is used the nutrients are broken and released much slower (Katina 2005, 3). Making bread as sough dough helps in some natural sugar being devoured during the fermentation process and this helps a lot in controlling the rising of blood sugar.

Conclusion

In conclusion, for diabetic patients who are lovers of bread, they should be introduced to sourdough bread because it leads to low blood sugar and insulin levels. Compared to other types of bread, this bread has low levels of insulin and glucose. Most bread is high in carbohydrates and low in fibre which makes it a poor choice for diabetic people who need stability in sugar levels. Diabetic patients should try and eat bread that has low carbohydrate content so as to maintain the blood sugar levels and also the insulin levels.

References

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Tulyathan, V., Tananuwong, K., Songjinda, P. and Jaiboon, N., 2002....