Journal of Bioprocessing & Biotechniques

In this research, image texture analysis as a nondestructive and rapid method was applied for estimation of mechanical texture property of bread. Bread samples were formulated using different emulsifiers (i.e. SSL, DATEM and E471) in three concentrations (0.2, 0.4 and 0.6%) at three proofing times (25, 35 and 45min) and sensory properties, specific volume, color components (i.e. L*, a* and b*), porosity, hardness and four image texture features (i.e. contrast, correlation, energy and homogeneity) were determined. The results indicated that emulsifier treated samples showed better (p<0.05) sensory perceptions in compression to control samples. However, the proofing time did not show significant effect. Application of E471 significantly increased the specific volume of bread. Emulsifier treated samples had higher lightness values. Application of higher concentration and longer proofing time led to higher porosity of bread. Emulsifiers, their concentrations and proofing times had positive significant (p<0.05) effects on softness of bread. On the other side of this research, contrast, correlation, energy and homogeneity were calculated from Grey Level Co-Occurrence Matrix (GLCM). They showed splendid correlations with hardness of bread (0.958, 0.973, 0.966 and 0.91, respectively). Multiple Linear Regression (MLR) was conducted between hardness and four image texture features and the mathematical equation could predict hardness with high correlation of coefficient of 0.994. These results strongly suggest that image texture analysis can be applied as a nondestructive and rapid method for estimation of hardness of bread.