PALM OIL SHORTENING EFFECTS ON BAKING

PERFORMANCE OF WHITE BREAD

NYUK LING CHIN1,3, RUSSLY ABDUL RAHMAN2,

DZULKIFLY MAT HASHIM2 and SHIN YUEH KOWNG1
1
Department of Process and Food Engineering
Faculty of Engineering
2
Department of Food Technology
Faculty of Food Science and Technology
Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM
Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia

Accepted for Publication March 10, 2008

ABSTRACT

The effect of the addition of palm oil shortening up to 10% on baking

performance of white breads in terms of volume, oven spring, weight, density,
color, crumb texture and shelf life using strong and weak flour was investi-
gated. Shortening improved the volume and oven spring of bread at an
optimum level of 4% for both strong and weak flour. The strong flour illus-
trated the effects of shortening more significantly than the weak flour as it
produced loaves with higher volumes, oven spring and weight. Bread density
decreased to its lowest at 4% of shortening before increasing but porosity
decreased linearly with shortening level. These findings suggest that shorten-
ing has the optimum capability of reducing bread density at 4% and further
addition resulted in dense and coarse bread. Addition of shortening also gave
signs of whiter breads and mold reduction effect, although there is no particu-
lar trend with its usage levels.

PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS

This research presents the improvement in baking characteristics of white

bread with addition of palm oil shortening at an optimum level of 4% for
all three types of shortening with melting points ranging from 3652C. The
baking characteristics such as volume, oven spring, weight, density, color,

3
Corresponding author. TEL: 60-3-8946-6353; FAX: 60-3-8656-7123; EMAIL: chinnl@
eng.upm.edu.my

Journal of Food Process Engineering 33 (2010) 413433. All Rights Reserved.

Copyright the Authors 413
Journal Compilation 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
DOI: 10.1111/j.1745-4530.2008.00282.x
414 N.L. CHIN ET AL.

crumb texture and shelf life were evaluated using newly developed research
methods and also by adopting industrial practices. It was observed that addi-
tion of shortening gave signs of whiter breads and mold reduction effect.

INTRODUCTION

Bread, one of the important staple foods and popular in many countries,
is manufactured by using various formulations and processes. Good quality
bread, however, can be achieved by using suitable types and amount of ingre-
dients. Presence of only the basic ingredients, that is, flour, salt, yeast, sugar
and water, is not sufficient to produce bread of high quality. Thus, many bakers
tried to improve the performance of bread by addition of artificial or synthetic
additives such as artificial sweeteners, color and flavor, preservatives and
improver. Due to health reasons, shortening provides a solution in terms of a
natural source of fats which can be added in breadmaking as functional
ingredients in the baking industry (Chung and Pomeranz 1983). The use of fats
and shortening in yeast-raised products initiates a number of changes in the
internal as well as the external characteristics of the finished product (Tamstorf
et al. 1988; Williams and Pullen 2007).
Shortening or known as vegetable shortening are made of 100% fats from
refined vegetable oils with blending of two or more partially hydrogenated oils
(Shurtleff and Aoyagi 2004). They appear in a semisolid state and both the
solid and liquid fractions in a shortening are important in breadmaking (Nor
Aini and Che Maimon 1996). The liquid matter in shortening has a lubrication
effect on bread by providing a moister mouthfeel felt from mouth surfaces
during chewing (Stauffer 2002), tenderizes the crumb of the cooled bread to
provide a tender and well-aerated bakery product by enabling the lubrication
of gluten particles as it breaks the continuity of the protein and starch structure
(Tamstorf et al. 1988) and tenderizes the crust by counteracting the tendency
of moisture migration from the center of the loaf to the drier surface region
which causes leathery consistency during storage. The tenderness of loaves
can prolong the shelf life of bread in terms of firmness. The solid fraction (fat
crystals) in a shortening plays an important part in the formation of the
structure of the dough as it influences the volume, grain and texture of the
finished product. Brooker (1996) proposed that fat crystals attached to gas
cells in the dough, and that during baking this fat becomes available to act as
a cell wall or membrane for the gas cell, and so a specific concentration of solid
fats is necessary for performance as a good shortening.
From the processing perspective, shortening has a direct role in deter-
mining the performance of bread loaves in terms of tenderization, volume and
oven spring. During the mixing stage, shortening helps to tenderize the bread.
 PALM OIL AND WHITE BREAD BAKING 415

Shortening does not dissolve in water and it is not hydrated by water (Figoni
2004), and therefore shortening can coat the structure builders which are the
gluten protein and starch granules by preventing them from absorbing water to
form the structure during the mixing process. In the proving stage, the solid
fraction in shortening which coated the gluten matrix during mixing will
strengthen the gluten matrix, allowing for more gas retention during proofing.
As a result, the proofed loaf is less sensitive to mechanical shock during
transfer to the oven and the increased gas retention translates into more oven
spring. During baking, the solid fats in a shortening melt following its melting
point. The melted fat slithers through dough and coats gluten strands and
starches. It raises the temperature at which starch begins to gelatinize, allowing
more oven spring. As fats melt, trapped air and water escape from the fat. The
evaporating water to steam vapor and the expansion of air and steam result in
a push on cell walls, which increases the volume of baked goods through the
leavening effect (Figoni 2004). Figoni (2004) also pointed out that the later a
fat melts, the more it leavens, because the gases escape at about the time that
cell walls are firm enough to hold shape. While improvements are significantly
detected when adding shortening to bread formulation, the otherwise happens
when too much fat or a high melting point is used. Too much fat can inhibit
rising of dough during proofing (Ghotra et al. 2002) and a high melting point
gives an unpleasant waxy mouthfeel.
Other additional functions of shortening on bread quality include extend-
ing shelf life of the bread as judged by firmness. Shortening, when associated
with the polymer molecules, is less easily displaced than water, and thus it
inhibits starch retrogradation (Street 1991) and delays the staling of bread by
decreasing the firmness of bread crumb (Stauffer 1996). Shortening also pro-
vides a finer, less coarse crumb to baked goods through its plastic fats. Short-
ening has the ability to allow the incorporation of many tiny air cells into
batters and dough. Addition of fat helps the dough to remain expandable longer
during baking and produces higher volume dough (Junge and Hoseney 1981).
Shortening which contains carotene also contributes colors to the bread crumb
by generating yellowish-orange color to the baked products. As fat increases
the rate of heating of baked goods, it also allows faster browning. This is
especially noticeable when comparing the paler color of low-fat baked goods
such as French loaves to regular baked goods (Figoni 2004). Shortening
contributes flavor to the baked products through its different materials such as
soybean, palm oil, peanut and canola oil. Each of the materials has its own
flavor and imparts it to the bread if the usage percentage of shortening is high.
Scientific literature shows that fats or shortening can improve the volume,
grain, texture and crust tenderness besides keeping quality of bread and
making the dough more elastic (Sultan 1980). Shortening is also capable
of delaying the staling rate of bread by inhibition of starch retogradation.
416 N.L. CHIN ET AL.

Shortening is quite effective in retarding bread crumb staling and has, for
many years, been used as an antistaling ingredient in breads (Gray and
Bemiller 2003). As the quality of baked product depends on the type of
shortening and the amount of shortening used, and probably on the manner in
which the shortening is dispersed in the batters or dough, this research was
performed to investigate the effect of shortening with different melting points
and to determine its optimum usage levels on the performance of baked loaves
in terms of volume, oven spring, weight, density, texture, shelf life and appear-
ance using strong flour and weak flour.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Breadmaking Experiments
The breadmaking experiments were conducted in the baking laboratory
of Malayan Flour Mills Berhad (MFMB), Pasir Gudang, Johor, Malaysia.
White breads were produced using two types of flour of different mixing
characteristics, that is, the Diamond hereafter named as strong flour and Blue
Bicycle as weak flour (Table 1). Palm oil based shortening at three ranges of
melting points, 3639C, 3940C and 4852C were used. Five levels were used

TABLE 1.
CHARACTERISTICS OF STRONG AND WEAK FLOUR USED
FOR BAKING TEST

Strong Weak
flour flour

Moisture content (AOAC 1990, 925.10), % 13.75 13.72

Protein (N 5.7) (AOAC 1990, 979.09), % 12.60 10.47
Ash (AACC, method 08-01), % 0.55 0.55
Wet gluten (Glutomatic gluten index), % 33.2 27.5
Starch damaged (AACC, method 76-30A), % 7.75 8.16
Farinograph (AACC 1983, method 5421)
Water absorption, % 65.0 63.5
Arrival time, min. 1.5 1.3
Development time, min. 12.2 6.0
Weakening (20 min. drop), Brabender Unit (BU) 10 30
Extensograph (AACC 1983, method 5410)
Water absorption, % 61.6 60.4
Extensibility, cm 18.1 16.4
Resistance, BU 382.5 357.5
Maximum height, BU 662.5 570
Area, cm2 165.7 122.7
 PALM OIL AND WHITE BREAD BAKING 417

in the bread-making experiments: 2, 4, 6, 8 and 10% based on flour weight. For

control, white bread without adding any shortening was produced using both
strong and weak flour.
The experiment design was 2 3 5 (flour type shortening
type shortening level) with addition of two controls from the strong and
weak flour, giving a total of 32 experiments. In running these experiments, all
the processes involved were performed in an identical manner and replicates of
four were obtained from the same batch of mixed dough.

Breadmaking Formulation and Process

Bread-making experiments were performed using the Straight Dough
Method using the formulation given in Table 2 to produce an open top white
bread loaf. In one mixing, 2 kg of bread flour was used to produce four open
top loaves. The breadmaking process involved seven main steps: mixing,
dividing, intermediate proofing, molding, proofing, baking and cooling.
Mixing was performed using a Spiral Mixer (HengLian Food Processing
Machine Factory, HS 20, Malaysia) operating at a single speed of 185 rpm.
The flour and all dry ingredients were mixed for 20 s, then with addition of
water and ice-cubes for another 3 min before addition of shortening for about
1215 min until a fully developed dough was formed. A manual dough stretch-
ing test was performed frequently from the 12th minute to determine whether
gluten was fully developed and to prevent it from being over-mixed. Mixed
dough with a temperature range of 2830C was removed from the mixer to a
working table and immediately divided into four pieces of 510 g each for

TABLE 2.
INGREDIENTS AND QUANTITY USED IN WHITE BREAD FORMULATION

Ingredients Bakers Weight, g

Percentage, %

Bread flour (strong or weak) 100.00 2,000

Water 46.50 930
Ice 15.50 310
Sugar 4.00 80
Salt 1.50 30
Instant dry yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) 1.00 20
Additive premix* 0.30 6
Fungal amylase** 0.05 1
Total 168.85 3,377

* The Additive Premix was prepared by mixing 14.5 ppm of Azodicarbonamide (ADA), 145 ppm of
Alphamalt BX (enzyme preparation) and 0.25 SKB of fungal a-amylase.
** Used in weak flour only.
418 N.L. CHIN ET AL.

rounding and then covered with a clean towel for intermediate proofing of
10 min. The doughs were then molded following the one-piece method using
the Bread Molder (Lian Huat Engineering Works, M201, Malaysia), placed
into greased baking pans and sent for proofing between 3437C at 85%
relative humidity for 2.5 h (Chun Yip Machinery Sdn. Bhd., Malaysia). A
standard proof height of 11 cm was obtained by using a height measure
template. Proofed doughs were sent for baking for about 45 min at 210C in an
Electrical Deck Oven (Lian Huat Engineering Works, E0303, Malaysia). After
baking, the breads were immediately removed from the baking pans and
placed on the wire rank for cooling to room temperature. Bread properties
including volume, oven spring, weight, color and crumb texture were mea-
sured on the next day but for shelf life study, measurements were performed on
the sixth day.

Bread Property Measurement

The same four open top loaves were used for volume, oven spring and
weight measurements before they were sliced using the Gravity Feed Bread
Slicer (Lian Huat Engineering Works, SS, Malaysia) for color and crumb
measurements. The volume of bread loaf samples in cm3 were obtained by
multiplying the measured length and width circumferences as recommended
by MFMB. As oven spring is the total increased height of a bread loaf due to
baking, it was obtained from the height of the loaf sitting in the baking pan
with deduction of its standard proof height of 11 cm. Weight of sample was
measured in grams using a digital balance. Density was calculated by dividing
the weight with volume.
The Commission Internationale de lclairages L, a, b color space
(CIELAB) (L*, a*, b*) system was used for quantifying the appearance of a
surface color. Four color readings each were made for values L*, a* and b*
using the Color Reader CR10 (Konica Minolta Sensing, Japan) on the center
of sliced bread. Following Bragadottir (1998), the total color difference, dE*,
of the bread slices from the reference is:

E* = ( L*) + ( a*) + ( b*)

2 2 2

where dL* = L* - L*reference, da* = a* - a*reference, and db* = b* - b*reference and

L*reference = 100, a*reference = 0, and b*reference = 0.
The assessment of crumb texture quality was performed using the image
analysis method following a series of steps (Fig. 1). The sliced breads from the
center part of baked loaves were scanned using a scanner (CanoScan, N340/
N640P, Japan) and saved as a JPEG image (Fig. 1A). The images were pre-
processed using the Ulead PhotoImpact 8 (Ulead Systems, Inc., USA)
 PALM OIL AND WHITE BREAD BAKING 419

Control

(A) (B) (C) (D)

FIG. 1. CRUMB TEXTURE QUALITY ANALYSIS USING A SERIES OF IMAGE
PROCESSING STEPS
(A) Original scanned image; (B) selection of image without label with fixed size of 420 470
pixels; (C) transformation to black and white image using threshold level of 170; (D) selection of
bread crumb area without background.

program where the original scanned images were selected with a fixed size of
420 470 pixels without the label from the images (Fig. 1B). Then the image
was set to a threshold level of 170 to set black color for gas cells and white
color for bread crumb area (Gallagher et al. 2003) (Fig. 1C). Finally, the
Magic Wand Tool was used to select the bread crumb area only without the
background (Fig. 1D). The image histogram operation provides distribution of
pixels in the images across the tonal range with black at the left end of the
graph and white at the right end (Meadhra 2002). By graphing the number of
pixels at black color or tonal value of zero to represent the gas cells area, the
statistical information listed in the histogram as Pixels was taken as the gas
cells area. Total pixels were the bread crumb area since it represents the total
number of pixels used to calculate the histogram. The Percentage repre-
sented the ratio of total gas cells area to total crumb area. The higher value of
percentage illustrated a more porous crumb.
For bread shelf life assessment, the assumption used was that the less the
molded bread crumb area, the longer the bread shelf life. One loaf was taken
from each batch of breadmaking experiment and wrapped with plastic and
stored for 5 days. On the sixth day, photographs of the samples were taken
using a digital camera (Nikon Coolpix, E5600, Japan) and saved in JPEG
image format (Fig. 2A). Similar to crumb texture analysis, the images were
reprocessed using the Ulead PhotoImpact 8 program to calculate the molded
bread crumb area. Using the Equalize command, the brightness, contrast and
color saturation were adjusted to bring the image into a normal tonal range to
prevent an image that is too dark (Meadhra 2002) (Fig. 2B). By using the
Standard Selection Tool, images of 800 700 pixels were selected from the
420 N.L. CHIN ET AL.

(A) (B) (C) (D)

FIG. 2. BREAD SHELF-LIFE ASSESSMENT USING IMAGE ANALYSIS TO COUNT
CRUMBS MOLDED AREA
(A) Original image saved in JPEG format; (B) image after equalize command; (C) selection of
crumb area from the center part of slices in 800 700 pixels; (D) the selected crumb area after
posterization command for mold area calculation.

center part of the bread crumb (Fig. 2C). The Posterize command was then
applied on the selected area of the crumb to change the number of divisions for
the color channels in the image where higher tonal area was assumed as
molded area (Fig. 2D). A posterize format at level 2 was chosen for all the
images to change the number of color divisions for the image. By using the
Magic Wand Tools, the colored area on the bread crumb was chosen to
represent mold growth area. As the total pixels illustrates the sum of each type
of color found on the crumb, measure of mold growth area is from the
percentage of total pixels per 800 700 pixels of crumb area.
Statistical Analysis
The mean, standard deviation, standard error and variance from four
samples were calculated for volume, oven spring, weight, density and color
results. Bread crumb texture and shelf life were assessed using image analysis
to indicate level of porosity and molded area. Graphs of mean value of volume,
oven spring, density and color against the three shortening usage level were
plotted for strong and weak flour. Standard error value was used as the error
bars in graphs.
For determining significant difference in response variables as affected by
the three investigated factors shortenings usage level, shortening type and
flour type the two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) with replication was
used to analyze the results for volume, oven spring, weight, density and color
difference while for porosity and molded area data, ANOVA without replica-
tion was used. Analyses were performed in two ways to observe the effects of
using six shortening levels with the two flour types (6 2) or with the three
shortening types (6 3).
 PALM OIL AND WHITE BREAD BAKING 421

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Table 3 presents the P values from ANOVA test results for shortening
usage levels versus flour type with n = 48 for shortening at melting points
3639C, 3940C and 4852C, and versus shortening type with n = 72 for strong
and weak flour. Shortening at melting point 3940C seems to show a higher
significant difference in all the baking properties measured. The overall baking
property with addition of shortening showed no preference to any flour type but
the responses are discussed individually following each baking property.

Volume
Figure 3 shows the effect of using shortening on the volume of strong and
weak flour breads. The effect is greater in strong flour breads giving volumes
ranging from 3,086 to 3,465 cm3 than weak flour breads with volumes ranging
from 3,016 to 3,288 cm3. The volume showed a similar trend for the three
shortenings, 3639C, 3940C and 4852C; that is, it reached its peak value at
usage level of 4% but started decreasing from 4% until 10% of usage level,
suggesting an optimum level of 4%. The same behavior found in both flour
types confirms that shortening increases bread volume effectively at a certain
usage level, otherwise the inverse result occurs. There is a significant differ-
ence (P < 0.05) between volumes of strong and weak flour bread when using
each of the shortenings, 3639C, 3940C and 4852C at six levels. The higher
volumes in strong flour breads complement the fact that strong flour has a
higher protein content and that promotes gluten formation for better gas
retention, and thus greater volume. As such, the strong flour is said to show
better performance in terms of baked volumes with addition of shortening.
Analysis of shortening levels versus shortening type, 3639C, 3940C and

TABLE 3.
P VALUES FROM ANOVA TEST RESULTS FOR SHORTENING USAGE LEVELS VERSUS
FLOUR TYPE (n = 48) AND SHORTENING TYPE (n = 72)

Baking property Shortening melting point Flour type

3639C 3940C 4852C Strong Weak

Volume 2.09E12 4.22E20 1.86E15 1.61E02 2.99E01

Oven spring 6.02E13 3.38E13 3.95E13 1.26E02 3.00E04
Weight 4.39E10 2.35E10 2.26E05 8.03E01 5.74E05
Density 2.75E08 1.05E13 7.32E11 8.21E02 8.17E01
Color 3.80E07 2.10E21 2.40E12 4.90E07 1.65E04
Porosity 1.20E03 1.13E03 1.27E03 7.40E04 3.20E03
Molded area 6.45E01 6.99E01 5.05E02 2.43E01 3.37E02
422 N.L. CHIN ET AL.

3600
(A)
0% 2% 4% 6% 8% 10%
3500

3400
Volume (cm )

3300

3200

3100

3000

2900
Shortenings Shortenings Shortenings Shortenings Shortenings Shortenings
36-39C 39-40C 48-52C 36-39C 39-40C 48-52C
Strong flour Weak flour

3600

(B)
3500

3400
Volume (cm )

3300

3200

3100

3000

2900
0% 2% 4% 6% 8% 10% 12%
Shortening Levels

FIG. 3. VOLUMES OF BREAD

(A) Histogram; (B) made from strong (filled symbols) flour and weak flour (empty symbols) using
three types of shortening, 3639C (), 3940C () or 4852C ().
 PALM OIL AND WHITE BREAD BAKING 423

4852C, gives a significant different of volumes in strong flour (P = 0.016) but

not the weak flour (P = 0.299) (Table 3). A larger volume of strong flour loaves
was found when using shortening 3940C. It is followed by shortening
4852C and shortening 3639C. Increasing solid fraction will increase the
melting point of shortening. Too much solid fraction in shortening can inhibit
rising of the dough during proofing (Ghotra et al. 2002). This causes shorten-
ing with the highest melting point (4852C) for not producing loaves with
highest value of volume.

Oven Spring
Figure 4 shows that shortening addition at any levels improved the oven
spring as the 0% shortening level showed the lowest oven spring values when
using all three shortening types in both flour varieties. The shortening addition
had the same effect on the oven spring as volume; oven spring increased with
usage level from 0 to 4% but decreased from 4 to 10%, giving highest oven
spring values at 4% consistently for all three shortening melting points. Sig-
nificant difference (P < 0.05) in oven spring was found in all shortening levels,
within flour and shortening type (Table 3). The strong flour bread gave higher
oven spring than weak flour mainly because of the higher protein content in
strong flour which builds a stronger gluten matrix that allows better gas
retention, thus higher oven spring. Within shortening type, the oven spring
increased slightly as the melting point increased in both strong and weak flour.
The higher slip melting point in shortening contributed by the higher solid
fraction could have provided fat crystals to attach to denatured proteins sur-
rounding the gas cells to strengthen the gluten matrix for more gas retention
and generate into more oven spring (Smith and Johansson 2004).

Weight
The weights of bread loaves baked from 510 g of dough show a general
increase with shortening levels for all three types of shortening, and the strong
flour gave higher values than the weak (Fig. 5). However, the three shortenings
did not give any significant difference in bread weights when using strong flour
(P > 0.05) although there is an effect with the weak flour (P < 0.05).

Density
Figure 6 shows that the densities of bread were obviously reduced when
shortening was added. The greatest density reduction was found at 4% of
shortening level for all three shortening types. Significant difference in density
within the flour when using all three types of shortening was obtained with
weak flour producing denser bread than the strong flour (Table 3). The
424 N.L. CHIN ET AL.

4.0
(A)
0% 2% 4% 6% 8% 10%
3.5

3.0
Oven Spring (cm)

2.5

2.0

1.5

1.0

0.5
Shortenings Shortenings Shortenings Shortenings Shortenings Shortenings
36-39C 39-40C 48-52C 36-39C 39-40C 48-52C
Strong flour Weak flour

4.0

(B)
3.5

3.0
Oven Spring (cm)

2.5

2.0

1.5

1.0

0.5
0% 2% 4% 6% 8% 10% 12%
Shortening Levels

FIG. 4. OVEN SPRING OF BREAD

(A) Histogram; (B) made from strong (filled symbols) flour and weak flour (empty symbols) using
three types of shortening, 3639C (), 3940C () or 4852C ().
 PALM OIL AND WHITE BREAD BAKING 425

415
(A)
0% 2% 4% 6% 8% 10%
410

405
Weight (g)

400

395

390

385

380
Shortening Shortening Shortening Shortening Shortening Shortening
36-39C 39-40C 48-52C 36-39C 39-40C 48-52C
Strong flour Weak flour

415

(B)
410

405

400
Weight (g)

395

390

385

380
0% 2% 4% 6% 8% 10% 12%
Shortening Levels

FIG. 5. WEIGHT OF BREAD

(A) Histogram; (B) made from strong (filled symbols) flour and weak flour (empty symbols) using
three types of shortening, 3639C (), 3940C () or 4852C ().
426 N.L. CHIN ET AL.

140
(A) 0% 2% 4% 6% 8% 10%
135

130
Density (kg/m )

125

120

115

110

105
Shortenings Shortenings Shortenings Shortenings Shortenings Shortenings
36-39C 39-40C 48-52C 36-39C 39-40C 48-52C
Strong flour Weak flour

140

(B)
135

130
Density (kg/m )

125

120

115

110

105
0% 2% 4% 6% 8% 10% 12%
Shortening Levels

FIG. 6. DENSITY OF BREAD

(A) Histogram; (B) made from strong (filled symbols) flour and weak flour (empty symbols) using
three types of shortening, 3639C (), 3940C () or 4852C ().
 PALM OIL AND WHITE BREAD BAKING 427

shortening type did not have any significant effect on the density in strong and
weak flour (P > 0.05) although it seems that the lowest melting point shorten-
ing, 3639C, gave the highest density values.
Color
High value of color difference, dE*, between samples and standard white
color (L* = 100, a* = 0, b* = 0) indicates the sample is far different from white
color; or lower color difference samples implies whiter bread slices. Figure 7
shows that without shortening, breads have a higher color difference from
white. The addition of shortening also performed poorer in weak flour to
produce whiter breads. The higher density of weak flour breads implies less
gas cells in loaves and as such, there is less light reflection for brighter loaves.
It was found that small and uniformly plus oval shaped gas bubbles give a
perception of brighter and whiter loaves (Cauvain and Young 2007). Signifi-
cant differences in color difference were found in all ANOVA analysis within
flour and shortening type at six levels of shortening (Table 3).
Crumb Texture
Crumb texture, as perceived as fine or coarse, can be quantified by
porosity measurements; that is, low porosity implies fineness in crumb and that
gas cells are uniformly distributed. Figure 8 shows that porosity decreases with
increasing level of shortening used. Addition of 10% of shortening produced
the finest bread. Porosity is higher in weak flour bread than strong flour. This
may be caused by weaker gluten power for gas retention and the expanding air
and gases escape easily into other cells, which in turn break down until the
coagulating protein at last traps the gases in large pockets (Fance 1969).
Porosity also increases with melting point of shortening. This may be caused
by the higher melting temperature of the solid component (fat crystal) in a
shortening during baking and that allowed further and greater gas expansion of
gas cells. Table 3 shows significant differences in porosity within flour and
shortening type at six levels.
The lower density (Fig. 6) and lower porosity (Fig. 8) breads produced
from strong flour suggest that fineness in crumb texture, that is, full of small
and uniform gas cells, whereas the higher density (Fig. 6) and higher porosity
(Fig. 8) breads produced from weak flour suggest that its crumb is coarse with
fewer and larger gas cells.
Shelf Life
Figure 9 shows no obvious trend of shortening effect within flour and
shortening type at various usage levels except for some interactions in the
weak flour, which is increasing shortening levels reduces the molded area of
bread crumb (P < 0.05).
428 N.L. CHIN ET AL.

42
(A)
0% 2% 4% 6% 8% 10%
40

38

36
dE*

34

32

30

28
Shortenings Shortenings Shortenings Shortenings Shortenings Shortenings
36-39C 39-40C 48-52C 36-39C 39-40C 48-52C
Strong flour Weak flour

42

(B)
40

38

36
dE*

34

32

30

28
0% 2% 4% 6% 8% 10% 12%
Shortening Levels

FIG. 7. COLOR DIFFERENCE OF BREAD

(A) Histogram; (B) made from strong (filled symbols) flour and weak flour (empty symbols) using
three types of shortening, 3639C (), 3940C () or 4852C ().
 PALM OIL AND WHITE BREAD BAKING 429

35
(A)
0% 2% 4% 6% 8% 10%
30

25
Porosity (%)

20

15

10

0
Shortenings Shortenings Shortenings Shortenings Shortenings Shortenings
36-39C 39-40C 48-52C 36-39C 39-40C 48-52C
Strong flour Weak flour

35

(B)
30

25
Porosity (%)

20

15

10

0
0% 2% 4% 6% 8% 10% 12%
Shortening Levels

FIG. 8. POROSITY OF BREAD

(A) Histogram; (B) made from strong (filled symbols) flour and weak flour (empty symbols) using
three types of shortening, 3639C (), 3940C () or 4852C ().
430 N.L. CHIN ET AL.

70
(A) 0% 2% 4% 6% 8% 10%
60

50
Molded Area (%)

40

30

20

10

0
Shortenings Shortenings Shortenings Shortenings Shortenings Shortenings
36-39C 39-40C 48-52C 36-39C 39-40C 48-52C
Strong flour Weak flour

70

(B)
60

50
Molded Area (%)

40

30

20

10

0
0% 2% 4% 6% 8% 10% 12%
Shortening Levels

FIG. 9. MOLDED AREA OF BREAD

(A) Histogram; (B) made from strong (filled symbols) flour and weak flour (empty symbols) using
three types of shortening, 3639C (), 3940C () or 4852C ().
 PALM OIL AND WHITE BREAD BAKING 431

CONCLUSIONS

Addition of shortening in breadmaking improves the volume and oven

spring of bread. The optimum usage level of three different melting points of
shortening is 4% for both strong and weak flour. The strong flour is proven to
be more suitable to illustrate the effects of shortening than the weak flour as it
produced loaves with not only higher volumes and oven spring but also weight.
Shortening addition decreases bread density and porosity. Density
decreases with shortening level up to its lowest at 4% shortening usage level
before increasing but porosity decreases linearly with shortening level. This
finding suggests that shortening has its optimum capability of reducing bread
density at 4% and further addition will result in dense and coarse bread crumb
structure. The strong flour bread has fine crumb from the lower density and
lower porosity measurements suggesting higher and smaller number of gas
cells, respectively. The higher density and porosity measured from weak flour
bread indicates fewer number of gas cells and larger in size. The image
analysis method developed showed capability of quantifying porosity and,
coupled with density analysis, seems to provide a good approach in evaluating
bread crumb quality and texture.
The fineness in crumb texture of strong flour bread could have possibly
resulted in whiter breads from the lower color difference measurement.
However, signs of whiter breads are also proven with addition of shortening of
any melting point in both strong and weak flour breads. Mold reduction effect
seems to be detected with presence of shortening although there is no particu-
lar trend with its usage levels.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

The authors gratefully acknowledge Mr. K.M. Chia and team from
Malayan Flour Mills Berhad, Malaysia, for baking facilities and technical help
and Delima Oil Products Sdn. Bhd. for shortening samples.

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