Abstract:The effect of flour maturation time on the quality of Chinese steamed bread was studied, steamed bread was prepared from different flour types and systems in order to optimize the process. Correlation analysis showed that sensory evaluation, L value (lightness) and hardness were positively correlated, while chromaticity and a* value (redness) were negatively correlated with the maturation time. On the other hand, b* value (yellowness), springiness, cohesiveness, and resilience were significantly negatively correlated with the maturation time. As for the effects of different types of flour and systems used, steamed bread made from wheat flour with medium hardness was of superior quality as compared to that from durum wheat flour in terms of sensory quality and color, but inferior in terms of textural properties. The quality of tail flour was poor due to high bran content, while that of head flour was better in terms of color, springiness, and resilience, due to low bran content. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) showed that the influence of maturation time on steamed bread quality was significant, with significant differences among the various indices with time. In conclusion, quality of steamed bread prepared from flour stored for 40 to 50 days was found to be of the highest quality.
