Comparative study of deterioration procedure in chemical-leavened steamed bread dough under frozen storage and freeze/thaw condition

Successive freeze/thaw (FT) cycle was a widely used empirical approach to shorten the experimental period since it could accelerate frozen dough deterioration compared with frozen storage (FS). In order to compare the effect of FS and FT cycle on deterioration procedure of chemical-leavened steamed bread dough, kinetic studies of bread quality indices were performed and the relationships between bread quality and dough components were further established. Results showed that degradation of steamed bread loaf volume and firmness followed first-order kinetics during FS and zero-order kinetics during FT, respectively. Glutenin macropolymers (GMP) depolymerization and dough weight loss occurred steadily throughout FS and FT. Significant enhancement of damaged starch and crystallinity were observed at the later FS period and FT cycle. Multiple regression study led to the conclusion that dough weight loss contributed the most to the reduced bread loaf volume under FS whereas GMP depolymerization dominated under FT condition.