Shelf-life enhancement of baked goods

Shelf-Life Enhancement of Baked Goods
Dr. Nancy Agnes, Head,
Technical Operations, FoodResearchLab
info@foodresearchlab.com
Keywords: Baked product development,
New Food product development, shelf-life
study, bakery product development
I. INTRODUCTION
Extending the shelf-life of Baked product
development relies on the manufacturers,
product developers, process and packaging
technologists to produce attractive and
delicious products that stay fresh for a long
time without any microorganisms. Shelf-life
of baked goods depends on a complex set of
conditions. Understanding how each of these
factors is involved in the physical and
chemical translation will aid in determining
the loss of shelf-life with time during New
Food product development. Having said
that, certain chemical reactions and physical
changes are unavoidable, but a few methods
could be employed to delay them and obtain
a high-quality product life.
II. STALING
At ambient temperatures, most baked
goods such as bread and rolls become moist
and spongy, undergoing deterioration in
quality, which is commonly known as
staling. Generally, the higher the moisture
content found in the fresh product will
increase the changes resulting from staling.
For instance, bread, sweet goods and cakes
stale faster than do cookies and crackers due
to their higher moisture content. If we look
closely at bread, the crumb and the crust are
undergoing staling at different rates due to
the same reason. Crumb staling is evident
from many physiochemical changes such as
changes in taste, aroma, hardness and starch
crystallization and retrogradation, leading to
insoluble starch content. To address these
problems of staling, packaging solutions can
be deployed to prevent moisture loss and to
keep the crumb soft and flavourful. Staling
can be slowed by handling the storing and
shipping temperatures below 32 ℃ during a
bakery product development.
III. EMULSIFIER
Emulsifiers slow down the staling
process by enhancing moisture retention.
Surfactants provide many functions in shelflife
improvements, such as increasing the
bread loaf volume and obtaining an optimal
and functional gluten structure. This process
leads to a softer crumb with improved
crumb resilience and moisture retention.
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Gluten proteins hinder the protein molecules
interaction due to ionic repulsion. Salt
increases the dough strength by suppressing
the ionic repulsion. Fatty acid present in
surfactants (DATEM, SMG) bind to the
hydrophobic areas of gluten proteins.
Saturated fatty acids of monoglycerides are
better than unsaturated versions in obtaining
the desired outcome, such as better air
incorporation. Using oil in cake mixes
produce a tender cake with enhances shelflife.
However, this affects the foaming
ability. Incorporation of emulsifiers such as
acetylated or lactylated monoglycerides will
improve the oil's functionality in cakes.
IV. CATALYSTS OR ENZYMES
Enzymes can be classified based on
the reactions, substrates, end products,
thermal stability, and source. In baking,
amylases (starch-degrading enzymes) are
often used to break down gelatinizing
starches during baking. Heat stability and
their mode of action are the main parameters
for their performance and heavy usage. This
is crucial as the amylases need to modify the
gelatinization of starch during baking at
temperatures above 150 ℃, improving
crumb softness. Commonly used amylases
are obtained from Aspergillus oryzae;
glucoamylase, Aspergillus niger; malted
wheat/barley; Bacillus subtilis; Bacillus
megaterium; and Bacillus
stearothermophilus.
V. HYDROCOLLOIDS
Hydrocolloids are used to improve water
solubility, increase viscosity and ability to
form gels. Hydrocolloids also improve and
stabilize the texture and inhibit the ice
crystallization with stable emulsions. Gums
are high-molecular-weight polysaccharides
with fiber and proteins. Commonly used
gums in baked products are agar,
carrageenan, cellulose gum, methylcellulose,
alginates, guar, locust bean gum, xanthan
gum, and psyllium husk. In products such as
icings and meringues, gums bind water to
prevent syneresis and provide freeze/thaw
stability with a gloss.
VI. WATER ACTIVITY (AW)
Aw is defined as a measure of the available
moisture in a food system. Aw should not be
confused with the total amount of water
present in the food. Humectants can be used
to control microbial and chemical activities
to relative vapour pressure. Water binds to
sugars, starches, and salt with hydrophilic
binding sites. Sugars and sugar alcohols,
such as mannitol, maltose, sucrose, sorbitol
and fructose are the commonly used
effective humectants. Honey is a
multifunctional humectant that helps in
improving the stability of frozen dough
products. Honey has also found to enhance
flavour qualities with antioxidant properties.
VII. REDUCTION OF MICROBIAL
LOAD
Good health and safety standards in plants
can prevent contamination problems. Apart
from controlling Aw, manufacturers can add
ingredients to aid in controlling
microorganisms. Natural inhibitors such as
vinegar and raisin juice concentrate reduce
pH to inhibit microbial growth. Food
additives such as sorbate and propionate are
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effective against yeasts, mould and bacterial
growth.
VIII. NOVEL SHELF-LIFE SOLUTIONS
Protein Ingredients from soy, whey, and
milk provide improvements in the shelf-life
stability of foods due to their water-binding
capacity. During the baking process,
proteins unfold, exposing additional waterbinding
sites unavailable in the native
protein form. Therefore when these
ingredients are incorporated into bakery
filling formulations, water will be tightly
bound to the protein resulting in a moist end
product with reduced starch retrogradation.
Sometimes, the management of moisture
content can lead to flavour changes. It is
advisable to use oil-based flavours that
bake-off less easily and at a lower
temperature for a longer time.
Edible Films and Coatings have been
developed in response to consumer demands
for foods with high quality and long shelflife.
For environmental reasons, there is a
necessity for reducing disposable packaging
and improving recycling options. Edible
films improve the mechanical properties in
food and control the loss of volatile flavours.
Edible mass transfer barriers have proven to
be effective with protein, lipids and
polysaccharides.
Freezing has been proven to preserve food
and naturally extend the shelf-life. Freezing
will lower the negative impact of staling on
taste, texture. If the baked goods are spoiling
sooner than consumed, then consider
freezing your products in an air-tight
container.
Better Packaging
Baked goods with shelf-life between two
weeks and six months are achieved largely
based on packaging technology. Highquality
barrier films are widely available at a
reasonable cost. A few of the latest
technology includes adding gases to control
the atmosphere (Modified-atmosphere
packaging (MAP)), have added weeks of
shelf-life from a shelf-life study. However,
faulty seals, package integrity and the
residual oxygen in the pack may result in
less safe baked goods. Even upon
appropriate sealing, the risk of anaerobic
bacterial growth is present. Manufacturers
should be conscious of Aw and pH
conditions to avoid such microbial growth.
REFERENCES
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(2020). Whey fermented by using Lactobacillus
plantarum strains: A promising approach to increase
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science, 103(7), 5906-5915.
2. Rico, D., González-Paramás, A. M., Brezmes, C., &
Martín-Diana, A. B. (2020). Baking Optimization as a
Strategy to Extend Shelf-Life through the Enhanced
Copyright © 2021 Food Research Lab. All rights reserved 3

Quality and Bioactive Properties of Pulse-Based
Snacks. Molecules, 25(16), 3716.
3. Shahid, S., Leghari, A. A., Farid, M. S., Saeed, M.,
Anwar, S., Anjum, R., ... & Abbas, Z. (2021). Role of
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Microencapsulated Bioavtive Ingredients in Quality
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Sci, 17(2), 12-28.
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