Breadmaking is probably one of the oldest technologies
known to mankind. Findings suggest that people of
Babylon, Egypt, Greece and Rome used bread as part
of their diet many decades B.C. (Matz, 1995). Since then
breadmaking technology has evolved in many different
ways. New materials and ingredients were introduced in
bread composition while research generated a constant
and impressive progress in breadmaking.
Several ingredients can be used for the production of
bread the most important of which are flour, yeast and
water. As soon as dough is properly baked into bread, a
product with superior quality and sensory features
occurs. Fresh bread usually presents an appealing
brownish and crunchy crust, a pleasant roasty aroma,
fine slicing characteristics, a soft and elastic crumb texture,
and a moist mouthfeel.
However, fresh bread is a product with a short shelflife
and during its storage a number of chemical and
physical alterations occur, known as staling. As a result
of these changes, bread quality deteriorates gradually as
it loses its freshness and crispiness while crumb firmness
and rigidity increase. The pleasant aroma vanishes and
flavor brings out a stale feeling.
Those preservation problems in combination with the
increasing market demands and the complexity of the
traditional breadmaking procedure, which requires
night or early morning labor, led to the evolvement of
several technologies in order to improve the preservation
of bakery products. Meanwhile, several additives
were introduced in order to increase shelf life of bread
and enhance its quality, retainability, sensory perception
or even nutritional value.
Over the past few years, the bakery industry has
exploited the advantages and applications of freezing
technology in several foods and developed a special
interest on it in order to cover its customers (consumers,
food service) needs for products with increased shelflife.
Frozen bakery products are expected to be characterized
by quick preparation time and affordable
price, and look and taste as if they are freshly and