Cereal Chem. 80(6):654-661The present investigation aims at understanding the mechanism of bread firming during staling. Changes in the starch fraction due to the addition of amylases and their influence on the texture of bread crumb were studied during aging and after rebaking of stale bread. Pan bread was prepared by a conventional baking procedure. The influence of three different starch-degrading enzymes, a conventional a-amylase, a maltogenic a-amylase, and a b-amylase were investigated. The mechanical properties of bread were followed by uniaxial compression measurements. The microstructure was investigated by light microscopy, and starch transformations were assessed by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and wide-angle X-ray powder diffraction. Firming of bread crumb and crystallization of starch are not necessarily in agreement in systems with added amylases. Reorganization of both starch fractions, amylopectin and amylose, and the increase of starch network rigidity due to increase of polymer order are important during aging. Starch-degrading enzymes act by decreasing the structural strength of the starch phase; for instance, by preventing the recrystallization of amylopectin or by reducing the connectivity between crystalline starch phases. On the other hand, starch-degrading enzymes may also promote the formation of a partly crystalline amylose network and, by this, contribute to a kinetic stabilization of the starch network. Based on the results, a model for bread staling is proposed, taking into account the biphasic nature of starch and the changes in both the amylose and amylopectin fraction.

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The influence of an antistaling α‐amylase on bread crumb and on wheat starch gels was investigated taking into account different levels of structural hierarchy. Bread was prepared by a conventional baking procedure. Starch gels were produced by heating a concentrated starch dispersion in closed molds. Bread and starch gels were characterized by compression tests, light microscopy (LM), differential scanning calorimetry, and X‐ray measurements. The α‐amylase enhanced the initial firmness of starch gels and reduced the firming rate of bread and starch gels on aging. LM revealed that amylose and amylopectin phase‐separated within the starch granules and that freshly baked control bread and starch gels showed weak birefringence which became more intense during aging. Amylase‐containing bread and starch gels exhibited strong birefringence in the amylose rich region of the granules directly after baking which did not significantly increase during aging. The enzyme hindered the retrogradation of amylopectin as detected by differential scanning calorimetry, whereas X‐ray diffraction indicated that the enzyme induced low levels of starch crystallinity which did not change during aging. It is hypothesized that the antistaling effect of the amylase is based on the capacity to partially degrade amylopectin and, by this, to hinder its recrystallization. On the other hand, the enzyme slightly degrades amylose by an endo‐mechanism which, in turn, promotes the rapid formation of a partly crystalline amylose network in fresh bread and hinders amylose rearrangements during aging.

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