Electrical properties measurement: A nondestructive method to determine the quality of bread doughs during fermentation

Abstract

The quality evaluation of food products using electrical measurements has gathered the attention of food scientists because of its simplicity and being nondestructive. In this study, the electrical resistance variation during the fermentation process of three types of Iranian local bread doughs, namely, Taftan, Lavash, and Sangak, was measured at two electrical frequencies of 120 and 1000 Hz and statistically evaluated using the D-optimal design. The results showed that there is a meaningful correlation between the electrical resistance and the type of dough and fermentation time. The dough samples had different amounts of some ingredients, e.g., yeast and sourdough, which resulted in different levels of microorganism activity. Moreover, the effects of frequency on the sample response were not significant during the experiments. Furthermore, having the type of bread dough, fermentation time, and electrical frequency, the artificial neural network (ANN) could predict the electrical resistance of the dough samples with an MSE of 0.007. Food scientists who work on the bread dough quality can use the apparatus introduced in this study to determine the quality of bread doughs during the fermentation process based on their electrical properties. Increasing the quality of bread dough leads to better durability, longer freshness and better digestion.