Overcoming bread quality decay concerns: main issues for bread shelf life as a function of biological leavening...

As is widely accepted, the quality decay of freshly baked bread that affects product shelf life is the result of a complex multifactorial process that involves physical staling, together with microbiological, chemical and sensorial spoilage. In this context, this paper provides a critical review of the recent literature about the main factors affecting shelf life of bread during post-baking. An overview of the recent findings about the mechanism of bread staling is firstly provided. Afterwards, the effect on staling induced by baker's yeasts and sourdough as well as by the extra ingredients commonly utilized for bread fortification is also addressed and discussed. As inclusion/exclusion criteria, only papers dealing with wheat bread and not with long-life bread or gluten-free bakery products are taken into consideration. Despite recent developments in international scientific literature, the whole mechanism that induces bread staling is far from being completely understood and the best analytical methods to be adopted to measure and/or describe in depth this process appear still debated. In this topic, the effects induced on bread shelf life by the use of biological leavening agents (baker's yeasts and sourdough) as well as by some extra ingredients included in the bread recipe have been individuated as two key issues to be addressed and discussed in terms of their influence on the kinetics of bread staling. © 2020 Society of Chemical Industry.