WoW ● Project Work Packages
WP1 - Effects of wheat types and food processing on bread composition

Bread is one of our oldest known processed foods. In ancient times, unleavened breads were mainly baked from ancient grain species for storage, to be consumed when other foods became limited. Later on, whole grain breads were prepared from doughs slowly fermented by naturally present bacteria. Currently, most of our daily bread is made from dough of refined bread-wheat flour, rapidly fermented using baker’s yeast. Thus, processing of wheat to produce bread has changed significantly during history. In our present studies we aim to investigate the possible effects on human health of compositional changes due to the differences in bread processing comparing either yeast fermentation or sourdough fermentation of whole grain flour from modern bread-wheat and from the selected “ancient grains” spelt wheat and emmer wheat.
In this work package we will analyse and compare, as the first step, the biochemical composition of the original grains, their resulting flours and doughs, and the finally baked whole grain breads.
Breads produced from the different wheat species will have their characteristic appearance, volume and giving a specific mouth feel. This project however, includes a blind bread testing (work package 3), and therefore requires uniform-looking breads, for which reason specific recipes will be developed that will result in the desired baking effects.
All breads will be prepared from the basic ingredients whole grain meal, water, sourdough or yeast, and salt, without further additions. Per wheat species, pure grains of at least three selected varieties will be used . Then, milled fractions will be biochemically analysed individually, and then pooled per species for dough making and bread baking. But first, regarding the sourdough, the best suitable starter culture will be selected. Biochemical analyses will be further performed on fermented dough and baked bread.
Biochemical analysis will be carried out especially on carbohydrates and proteins. Of the carbohydrates, the amount and the composition of starch, of dietary fibres and of fermentable oligo-, di-, monosaccharides and polyols (FODMaPs) will be measured. Protein analysis will focus on the content and composition of gluten, amylase-trypsin inhibitors (ATIs), lectins and proteases in the various bread types.In addition phytate and selected minerals will be quantified. A precise determination of the composition of the baked breads is a prerequisite for the further studies described in work packages 3 and 4. In addition the protein composition of vital wheat gluten, as often used as dough enhancer in bread making, will be determined

WP1 is performed by the Netherlands Bakery Centre, Wageningen, NL, Principle Investigators (PI.) Flip van Straaten, Petra Kuiper, Wageningen Plant Research NL, PI. Twan America, and Rothamsted Research, UK, PI. Peter Shewry.