Quality and staling characteristics of wheat bread improved by adding Eucommia ulmoides oliver leaf micropowder

The wheat flour partially replaced by Eucommia ulmoides Oliver leaf micropowder (EUOLMP) was used to make bread, and the textural properties, moisture distribution, staling characteristics and internal structure of the resulting bread were analyzed to explore the effect of EUOLMP on the quality of wheat bread. The substitution level of EUOLMP had significant effects on the quality and staling characteristics of fresh bread. When 0.5%–1% of wheat flour was replaced by EUOLMP, the fresh bread gained higher specific volume, softer texture, improved porosity, and increased proportion of tightly bound water. The Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis demonstrated that the retrogradation enthalpy and relative crystallinity of bread decreased with the EUOLMP addition, which indicated that EUOLMP inhibited starch coagulation and recrystallization in bread and delayed the staling of bread. The EUOLMP substitution for wheat flour (at a 1% substitution level) could also obtain favorable sensory evaluation.