Structural and farinographic changes during mixing of a yeast sweet dough

Sweet dough requires longer mixing time than salty or white pan bread doughs to reach a developed stage. Although many studies have dealt with the effect of mixing time on dough, few have referred to yeast sweet doughs. The aim of this study was to evaluate if the changes in dough microstructure during different stages of mixing were the same between sweet pan bread and white pan bread, using as control a flour water system. Scanning electronic microscopy (SEM) and some bread characteristics were used as evaluation parameters. Doughs were prepared in a Brabender Farinograph instrument. Different mixing times were used for each formulation, which correspond to common farinographic parameters such as: arrival time, peak time, departure time, etc. Farinographic consistency was evaluated at those times. Results showed that sweet dough farinogram was quite different from those obtained from the other two samples; it starts with a low consistency value (260 BU), and after 8 min of mixing it began to increase until almost reaching the 500 BU line; then the graphic follows the classical curve. Larger products were obtained from arrival time to departure time for both formulations. SEM showed that as mixing proceeds the dough structure opens, changing its appearance from a compact structure at the beginning to a very open one at the end of the mixing process. SEM also showed that the process of mixing is the same for the two samples and control; however, the time needed to reach each stage was different among samples. Farinogram can be used to get information about mixing behavior of yeast sweet doughs. The study of mixing can be easier using sweet dough formulations because it was possible to get more points between the onset of mixing and full dough development, and the process was very similar no matter the formulation.