Basic knowledge models for the design of bread texture

•Basic knowledge models (BKMs) are defined proposed for each operation of bread making.•BKM is derived from energy balance during mixing to predict dough viscosity.•Dough imaging helps to build BKMs to predict dough porosity and cellular structure during proofing.•Crust index of bread can be deduced by a BKM expressed by a function of baking time.

Bread making process can be defined by the succession of steps, with operating parameters and raw material properties as input variables and dough properties as output ones, rheological characteristics acting on both sides. With the help of domain specialists, we have defined the variables of bread making and focused on four main operations: mixing, proofing, laminating, and baking. Starting from concepts of rheology and multiscale analysis of dough structure, we propose basic knowledge models (BKMs) defined as a common representation of product changes for each operation, in a realistic range of dough compositions, and we delineate the areas where they are not available. Once completed, these BKMs could provide a tool to design the texture of various bread products.