Bread from composite cassava-wheat flour: I. Effect of baking time and temperature on some physical properties of bread loaf

The use of composite cassava-wheat (CCW) flour for commercial breadmaking purposes and consumption of CCW bread are relatively new in Nigeria. This study investigated the effect of baking temperature and time on some physical properties of bread from composite flour made by mixing cassava and wheat flour at ratio of 10:90 (w/w). A central composite rotatable experimental design was used while the baking temperature and time investigated ranged from 190 to 240 °C and 20 to 40 min, respectively. Loaf volume, weight and specific volume varied significantly (p < 0.001) from 440 to 920 cm³, 162 to 183 g and 3.31 to 5.32 cm³/g, respectively. The tristimulus color parameters such as L¹ (lightness) and brownness index (BI) of the crust varied significantly (p < 0.01) from 31 to 72 and 68 to 123, respectively. Moreover, Fresh crumb moisture, density, porosity and softness as well as the dried crumb hardness were also significantly (p < 0.01) affected by both the baking temperature and time with values ranging from 34% to 39%, 0.16 to 0.20 g/cm³, 0.69 to 0.80, 13.00 to 18.05 mm and 0.90 to 2.05 kgf, respectively. Due to the complex effect of temperature and time combination, most of the measured properties could not be reliably predicted from the second order response surface regression equations except the loaf weight and crumb moisture. Further studies are required to optimize the CCW bread baking process based on some storage and consumption qualities.