Effects of Adding Mushrooms to Dough on Gas Production during Bread Making

Abstract

The effects of adding mushrooms to wheat flour on gas production during bread making are reported. The loaf volume and specific loaf volume of bread containing 5% maitake, bunashimeji, kikurage or nameko mushrooms were markedly decreased. In contrast, the values of the bread containing shiitake or enokitake were similar to those of standard bread. The addition of such mushrooms as maitake, bunashimeji, kikurage and nameko to bread dough supplied carbohydrate to baker's yeast and promoted fermentation under anaerobic conditions, this leading to increased gas production and resulting in a sharp fall of the dough. In a liquid culture medium, shiitake inhibited the growth of yeast and this led to no gas being produced. However, the yeast-inhibitory effect by shiitake may have been decreased in the dough because the yeast did not come into contact with the shiitake. Therefore, dough containing shiitake mushrooms did not break down, because this mushroom inhibited the growth of baker's yeast resulting in no excessive gas being produced by alcohol fermentation.