A Porosimetric Mapping of Breadcrumb Structures by Differential Scanning Calorimetry and Nuclear Magnetic Resonance

Journal article, 2013

Ice crystals in frozen bread are substantially shaped by the complex pore structures of crumb. In this study we inspected the breadcrumb porosity of ice-filled pores from the profiles of ice crystals mapped by differential scanning calorimetry and nuclear magnetic resonance. Two types of wheat bread containing different amounts of dietary fiber and sugar were studied after frozen storage at -18 A degrees C for 3 weeks. Both pore sizes and pore size distributions were derived via comparing the measurements to those of water-saturated mesoporous silica (MCM-41 C18) with a well-defined pore size distribution. Good consistency was shown for the crumb pore structures obtained using the two techniques. Both bread types featured broad nanometer ranges of pore sizes characterized with largely bimodal size distributions. Besides, the frozen high-fiber bread displayed a higher proportion of large pores and a broader pore size distribution than the high-sugar bread. By comparing such pore size distributions with those obtained previously for the corresponding fresh bread, it can be concluded that structural differences between the two bread types were produced during the frozen storage, manifesting the disparate freezing performances of bread with different formulations.