Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
desired characteristics of the wheat-based foods
described at the beginning of the chapter.
There are myriad ways of assessing the charac-
teristics of the fi nished products. For example,
these include simple measures of loaf volume via
displacement to complex image analyses of bread
crumb structure. However, all end-product
assessment techniques may be placed into two
categories with regard to the experimental
approach: sensory or instrumental. From another
viewpoint there are also two further categories
with regard to sensory assessments: intensity
ratings and hedonic assessments such as consumer
preference. Intensity ratings can be done either
by instrument or with trained sensory panels (e.
g., is it harder or softer, larger or smaller, or
darker or lighter?). Hedonic assessments can be
done only by humans and are the ultimate test.
However, these are not often directly applicable
during breeding or trading of wheat. However,
wheat technologists through experience or direct
comparisons can associate certain attribute inten-
sities with consumer preferences in target markets
(e.g., a liking for soft crumb texture in sponge-
and-dough sandwich bread in North America).
Laboratory-scale production also necessitates
some rationalization since no laboratory working
with large sample numbers, or with only small
amounts of fl our (e.g., breeding programs), can
cater to all the possible permutations of process
and formulation that can be used even for a single
product. For example, subdividing Asian noodle
sample sets into only the simplest of categories
with respect to formulation (alkaline and salted)
doubles the required testing, not to mention the
variations in the composition of the alkaline com-
pounds used in commercial practice, or other
formulation or process variants. Thus, reasoned
approaches need to be applied to get the best infor-
mation possible from the least amount of testing.
For example, sugar-snap cookie diameter, straight-
dough loaf volume, and cooked noodle or pasta
hardness values are used respectively as indices of
the overall quality of soft wheat, of the overall suit-
ability of wheat for breadmaking, and of the eating
qualities of noodles and pasta. One can refi ne the
testing if there are known (and specifi c) end-use
requirements. For example, wire-cut formulations
should be used rather than sugar-snap formula-
tions if the objective is to know the effect of fl our
composition on cookie tenderness.
Standard test methods and assessment proce-
dures are available for many products and these
may include the following: straight-dough and
sponge-and-dough test baking of pan bread
(AACC-approved methods 10-09 and 10-11,
AACC 2000); baking quality of cakes (AACC-
approved methods 10-15 and 10-90, AACC 2000);
baking quality of cookie fl our (AACC-approved
methods 10-31B through 10-54, AACC 2000);
and laboratory-scale pasta processing and assess-
ment of fi rmness (AACC-approved methods 66-
41, 66-42, and 66-50, AACC 2000). If specifi c
approved standard methods are not available,
then published methods or guidelines can be
found, such as guidelines for laboratory-scale
Asian noodle processing (Ross and Hatcher 2005)
and texture assessment (Ross 2006). Guidelines
for steamed bread processing and assessment can
be found in the literature (Huang et al., 1996) or
in the “Guidelines for Testing a Variety of Prod-
ucts” (AACC approved method 10-13A, supple-
ment to AACC 2000). The latter also includes
guidelines for frozen pizza dough, soft pretzels,
fl our tortillas, bagels, hamburger buns, French
hearth breads, pita bread, cakes, and yeast-raised
doughnuts. Furthermore specialists within
product sectors are constantly refi ning the end-
product test methods. An example of this is the
work being done by the AACC-International Soft
Wheat Technical Committee to update approved
method 10-90 for cake baking to streamline the
method so that only one bake at a fi xed hydration
level, rather than three bakes, would be required.
The proposed modifi cations are also aimed at
making the method more useful for estimating the
ability of the fl our to make a cake rather than
observing the response of the fl our to variations
in formulation.
EMERGING OPPORTUNITIES
Spectroscopy
Of all the rapid tests applied to wheat grain from
breeder to trader, one that seems most amenable
