Effect of defatted maize germ flour addition on the physical and sensory quality of wheat bread

Maize (Zea mays L.) processing produces large quantities of defatted maize germ (DMG) that is being used mainly for animal feed. The objective of this study was to exploit use of this nutrient-rich by-product in bread by replacing wheat flour at 5–20 g/100 g levels. Breads prepared with wheat–DMG flour blends were analyzed for loaf volume, density, instrumental dough hardness and bread firmness, Hunter color (“L”, “a”, “b”, chroma, and hue angle), and selected sensory attributes. Loaf volumes decreased significantly, from 318.8 ml to 216.3 ml, as the DMG flour supplementation was increased from 0 to 20 g/100 g; a similar effect was observed for bread specific volume. Increase in dough hardness (7.56–71.32 N) was directly related to increase in DMG flour levels. Instrumental firmness values were significantly higher for breads containing DMG flours, 61.58 N in 20 g/100 g DMG bread versus 32.84 N for the control bread, made with wheat flour only. The control bread was lighter in color, as shown by higher “L” values, than those having DMG flour, with chroma and hue angle values significantly higher in treatment breads. In general, no differences were observed for the sensory attributes of crumb color, cells uniformity, aroma, firmness, mouthfeel, and off-flavor in breads with up to 15 g/100 g DMG flour, while the overall acceptability scores showed a mixed pattern. The results of this study demonstrated that acceptable quality bread could be made with DMG flour addition at ≤15 g/100 g.