Staling kinetics of whole wheat pan bread.

Understanding the staling process of whole grain breads, especially in relation to the increase in firmness, can contribute to optimize the shelf life of these products. The aim of this work was to develop an equation (staling rate) capable of estimating the increase in firmness of whole wheat pan breads. The staling rate (K) demonstrated that the greater the bran content, the greater the increase in bread firmness (from 0.011 day-1 for 0% replacement, to 0.174 day-1 and 0.091 day-1 for 30% replacement of fine and coarse bran, respectively). Thereby, we established an equation to estimate the firmness of whole wheat pan bread on a given day, considering the concentration of bran in the formulation, thus helping baking industries to predict bread behavior during storage and optimize the use of additives.