Bread Research
1. Introduction
Whether it's a rustic roll, hand crafted by your local baker, or a loaf, leavened in a factory on an industrial scale, Europeans get through 25-million tonnes of bread each year.
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2. Testing Glucose Levels
The researchers want to know how the fermentation process affects glucose levels in the blood of those who eat it. The experiment is just one of a number of elements in a research project aimed at providing EU citizens with better and healthier bread, no matter the consumer's preferences.
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3. Nutritional Quality of Bread
Researchers are working to improve the nutritional quality of industrially-produced bread, while cutting the amount of energy needed to make it. Their work should also help to provide traditional bakeries with useful tips on making healthier bread with more environmentally friendly bakery techniques.
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4. Volume of the Bread
Researchers turn a bread-roll in the beam of a scanning laser, which then draws the exact shape on a computer. The software then accurately calculates the volume.
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5. Texture and Shape of Bread
Researchers also use the scanner to study the texture and shape of the bread crumbs. The pictures help them measure the size and number of bubbles - which is useful in solving problems like the over-contraction of crumbs during baking.
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6. Research on Baking
A Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectrometer - with a built-in bread oven is used it to look at what's happening under the crust while the bread is baking. The pictures help experts to learn how the expansion of gas determines the shape, volume and porosity of the final product.
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7. Conclusion
It's the volume, density, and distribution of these bubbles which essentially make the difference between a soft floury-bap, and a crunchy crusty-cob. Researchers hope better understanding of how the bubbles breed, will lead to a bread that's better bred.
