Effect of different beta-glucan preparation pretreatments on fortified bread quality

Abstract This research explores the different beta-glucan preparation pretreatments prior to fortifying the bread (hydrating, freezing, boiling, blendering and their combination). Breads containing hydrated or dry beta-glucan preparations demonstrated lower values of specific volume than the control. On the other hand, the beta-glucan preparation, which was boiled or blendered after freezing showed higher specific volume. The firmest bread was achieved by adding beta-glucan preparation which was hydrated and blendered (significant at p ≤ 0.05) and the least firm was after application of a frozen blendered preparation. In our study, we researched the influence of pretreatment the beta-glucan preparation on the concentration of this compound. Our breads contain from 1.62 to 1.99 g beta-glucan/100 g of product. It seems that the best way of pretreatment is drying, freezing or boiling after freezing the beta-glucan preparation (significant at p ≤ 0.05). In general, the best performing method was boiling the beta-glucan preparation following dough addition.