Image analysis of structural changes in dough during baking

The bakery market is developing new technologies based on dough partial baking and the study of the changes that dough undergoes through the whole baking process could help in the selection of baking times. The aim of this work was to study the changes of dough structure and their relationship with dough temperature, mass loss and loaf height during baking by applying image analysis techniques. Results showed that during baking, bubble coalescence was presented, observing a maximum at the first stages of baking (<250 s). This phenomenon was associated with an increment in dough height without a significant change in dough centre temperature. Fractal dimension of texture of crumb, fractal dimension of contour of cells and crumb grain features were useful indicators of coalescence as well as to distinguish the baking time needed for crumb features remain invariable.