January 12/Qingdao, People's Republic of China/Food Business Week -- According to a study from Qingdao, People's Republic of China, "Two wheat flours, Type I and Type II, were used to clarify the effect of tea polysaccharide (TPS) on dough-mixing behavior, fresh bread quality and bread staling. TPS level affected fresh bread quality favorably, with 2% for Type I bread and 3% for Type II bread, providing the optimal results."

"During storage, temperature had a major influence on bread properties. A decrease in moisture content and water activity and an increase in firmness and endothermic enthalpy were more pronounced at 4C than at 20C. The addition of TPS reduced the loss of moisture content, firmness and endothermic enthalpy of the breadcrumbs. The change in quality parameters of Type II breadcrumbs was larger than those of Type I over a 7-day storage. In addition, X-ray diffraction results confirmed that the suppressing effect of TPS on staling depended not only on TPS level and storage time, but also on the nature of wheat flour," wrote Y.B. Zhou and colleagues, Ocean University of China.

The researchers concluded, "The work provided more groundwork for further application of tea polysaccharide in bake and nutrition fields. The results indicated that the magnitude of effects on the physical and sensory properties of bread was dependent on the amount of added tea polysaccharide, storage temperatures, storage time and the nature of wheat flour."

Zhou and colleagues published their study in the Journal of Food Processing and Preservation ("Effect of Tea Polysaccharide Addition on the Properties of Bread Made from Two Flours." Journal of Food Processing and Preservation, 2009;33(6):798-813).

For more information, contact D.F. Wang, Ocean University of China, College Food Science & Engineering, Qingdao 266003, People's Republic of China.

From the January 18, 2010, Prepared Foods E-dition