Determination of pizzas quality and acceptability by physic-mechanical tests

Area of Science:

• Food Science and Technology
• Instrumental Analysis
• Bakery Product Quality

Background:

• Current subjective methods for evaluating bakery product quality are insufficient.
• There is a growing need for efficient and sustainable processing technologies.
• Objective instrumental methods are required to replace subjective quality assessments.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify key physical characteristics defining pizza quality and acceptability.
• To establish instrumental methods for evaluating these physical attributes.
• To validate the developed instrumental methods using different oven technologies and sensory testing.

Main Methods:

• Rapid Visco Analysis and Scanning Electron Microscopy for pizza base cooking quality.
• Measurement of final cooking temperature, specific volume, water content, color, and texture.
• Sensory evaluation by 60 non-trained panelists using pizzas from three different oven technologies.

Main Results:

• Instrumental methods successfully identified quality differences in pizzas produced by various ovens.
• The identified variations in physical attributes were not significant enough for sensory detection.
• Established attribute values can serve as a baseline for future cooking technology comparisons.

Conclusions:

• Developed instrumental methods are sensitive to objective quality variations in pizza.
• Further research may be needed to bridge the gap between instrumental and sensory perception.
• The study provides a foundation for objectively evaluating new pizza cooking technologies.