Quality of bread made from ozonated wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) flour

Ozone gas could be used as a fumigant during grain and flour storage. Experiments were conducted to determine the effects of exposure to ozone and the effects of blending ozone-treated flour with control flour on flour functionality and bread-making quality.

Ozone treatment oxidized lipids, increased brightness and reduced the yellow hue of flour, and increased peak viscosity and setback viscosity of flour. Bread made from flour treated with ozone at 1500 mg kg(-1) for 4.5 min and bread made from flour blended with 100 g kg(-1) ozonated flour had good crust color and a whiter crumb and had more crumb cells, which resulted in a greater specific volume of the bread when compared with control flour. Flour functionality declined as ozone exposure increased beyond 9 min and as the concentration of ozonated flour increased beyond 200 g kg(-1) .

Bread made from flour exposed to ozone for 4.5 min or flour that contained 100 g kg(-1) fully ozonated flour had greater specific loaf volume and whiter crumb compared to bread made with control flour. Exposure of flour to ozone for longer times (9-45 min) and higher blends (200-1000 g kg(-1) ) deteriorated quality of bread.