Abstract
Food-Kansei Engineering provides consumer-oriented technologies by applying mathematical models based on the communication of the five senses in a human being. The latest information on hyper-strong wheat, bread surface color, as well as aroma have been thought of as the transformative factors in remotely-stimulating the communication of the five senses and thus food preference. The branding technologies to provide effective usage of these factors are presented by utilizing the results obtained from a field survey on hyper-strong wheat and also experimental research in bread baking processes.
The effect of heating conditions on crust color formation was investigated during the baking of white bread. The surface temperatures were monitored with the thermocouples attached on the rear surface of a loaf pan cover. The trajectory pattern of the surface color in the L∗a∗b∗ color coordinate system was defined as the “characteristic coloring curve”. The curve demonstrated that a∗ and b∗ have a specified value for a certain L∗ value. A linear relationship was observed between the L∗ depression and the rise of weight loss of the samples. The surface color could be predicted from the relationships among the database of ingredient composition, air temperature, weight loss ratio, and sensory evaluation score.
The potent odorants in the crust and crumb of white bread were identified and quantified by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry and gas chromatography/ olfactometry. The weight loss ratio of the samples baked at 220 °C was controlled in the range of 0–28 %. The odorants were classified into 5 types by their transfer characteristics: 1) All odorants transferred from the crust to external space. 2) All odorants transferred from the crust to the crumb and external space. 3) A certain amount of odorants remained in the crust and the rest transferred to the crumb and external space. 4) All odorants transferred from the crumb to the external space. 5) A certain amount of odorants remained in the crumb and the rest transferred to the crust and external space. The results indicate that the crust could be a barrier to prevent the odorants from being transferred to external space. The optimum control period was found to be at the stage where crust formation starts, for creating aroma which gratified the consumer most. Coupling the stepwise PLS-VIP and the ANN modeling successfully provides the tools to analyze and design the optimum final products contributing to the palatability of white bread.
