Quality and microbial characteristics of part-baked Sangak bread packaged in modified atmosphere during storage

• Modified atmosphere packaging was used to increase shelf-life of part-baked bread.
• Part-baked Sangak bread was packaged in different gas compositions.
• Quality and microbial analyses were done during storage time.
• Gas composition had no significant effect on the quality characteristics of bread.
• The microbial analyses of bread were affected by modified atmosphere packaging.

The effect of part-baking and modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) on quality and microbial stability of part-baked flat bread (Sangak) was investigated. Part-baked Sangak bread was packaged in 100% CO2, 50% CO2:50% N2, 25% CO2:75% N2 and air as a control and stored at 25 °C for 21 days. Color, firmness, moisture, density and microbiological analyses of the package breads were carried out at 3-day intervals during storage. No significant effect of MAP was found on moisture, color and texture during the storage of part-baked bread, while the total aerobic plate count (APC) and the mold and yeast count (M + Y) were dependent on the concentration of CO2 in the package headspace. With increasing concentration of CO2, microbial counts were decreased. Density of part-baked bread was also somewhat influenced by the MAP. The observed reduction in the density of control samples during storage was less than those in MAP. The results of the present study demonstrated that it is possible to prolong the shelf-life of Sangak bread from a few days to about 21 days by using bake-off technology (BOT) and MAP under high CO2 concentration.