Abstract
Super-fine rice-flour has recently been developed in Japan aiming to increase rice consumption. The characteristics of rice-flour-bread made with weakly electrolyzed water (anode and cathode water)obtained by the electrolysis of tap water were investigated. When anode and cathode water was used, the specific volume of rice-flour-bread was significantly greater than from plain tap water. The texture of breadcrumbs made with anode and cathode water was softer and more elastic than that of breadcrumbs made with plain tap water, these improvements being supported by panelists'responses in a sensory test. We next made rice-flour-bread with sugar reduced to 20% of the usual level. The specific volume of rice-flour-bread made with anode and cathode water was similarly increased. The breadcrumbs made with anode and cathode water were softer, and the crust was browner than those of rice-flour-bread made with plain tap water. The results from a model test lead us to presume that the use of anode water promoted solubility of the protein which participated in the formation of a gluten-matrix, resulting in improved loaf volume. On the other hand, cathode wat er seemed to improve the gelatinization of starch, again resulting in an improved loaf volume.
