Impact of wheat bran addition on the temperature-induced state transitions in dough during bread-baking process.

Wheat bran-mediated effects on temperature-induced state transitions of proofed bread dough were studied
as function of its level of replacement (5%–15%) to wheat flour. Proofed dough was subjected to rheological
tests at small deformations. During heating of proofed dough from 30 °C to 95 °C, the value of
elastic modulus (G0) attained its maximum at a temperature (TG0
max
) that represented peak gelatinisation
temperature (TP). Dough with 15% bran depicted significant increase in TP over other formulations. Bran
addition increased glass transition temperature (Tg) of dough and suppressed drop in elastic modulus (G0)
at T > Tg. The above events resulted in decreased loaf-specific volume and increased crumb hardness. The
former was caused by retarded bubble expansion during initial stages of baking, explained by reduced
uniaxial and biaxial extensibilities of dough. Mean bubble size depicted an inverse relationship with the
hardness of breadcrumb.