Wheat and Flour Quality Related to Baking Performance in Industrial French Bread Processes

Data orginating from a previous study (Salovaara 1986) were used to calculate correlations between quality parameters detected analytically in wheat and flour and those recorded in industrial baking processes. In general, the range in quality of the various flour lots was rather narrow, and hence many relationships may not have emerged with sufficient significance. However, several flour characteristics showed a significant response in industrial baking performance, which was indicated as “baking absorption”, “dough machinability”, “loaf appearance” and “specific loaf volume” in the present study. Analytical qualtiy parameters of value for the prediction of industrial baking performance in this material were wet gluten content, farinograph absorption, and other farinograph characteristics, notably stability. However, several contradictions and differences among bakeries were found making it difficult to give a definite description of a flour of good industrial baking performance. The paper draws attention to a further need for testing the relevance of the quality parameters currently applied to predict baking performance of flour with respect to regular breadmaking processes today.