Micro-computed tomography study on bread dehydration and structural changes during ambient storage
Yi Chen, Annapaola Parrilli, Florian Jaedig, Adrian Fuhrmann, Christian Staedeli, Peter Fischer, Erich J. Windhab
Abstract
This study investigated the structural changes in bread during ambient storage. The structural changes in bread were studied using X-ray micro-computed tomography. Fresh bread had a porosity of 53.7 ± 1.6% and a high pore connection value, suggesting that most pores in the bread are extensively interconnected. Moreover, fresh bread had cell walls with an average thickness of about 0.2 mm and a wide pore size distribution. During storage, the bread underwent substantial water-loss, leading to volume shrinkage and microstructural alterations. Significant increases in total porosity and in the number of small pores as well as a significant decrease in average cell wall thickness were observed over 14 storage days. Grayscale intensity obtained from the X-ray images provided additional insights into the changes in the network density, which is expected to be correlated with water distribution and starch recrystallization during staling.