Springier bread
At the UK's Institute of Food Research, scientists are using powerful microscopes to see why air bubbles in bread collapse, making it stodgy.
They've found the trouble spot. On the boundary between air and dough, which is only one molecule thick, fatty molecules fight with proteins for space. When the fatty molecules win, the air bubbles are broken.
Some wheat varieties are naturally high in proteins and good at resisting fatty attack. By searching these plants out, scientists hope they can help bakers make springier, tastier bread.
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Image: Morris, Parker & Gunning/IFR |
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