Effects of loaf weight and storage time on the qualitative properties of white and traditional vakfikebir breads

Vakfikebir bread (VB), a special kind of bread, is produced in Turkey, especially in Trabzon, Black Sea region. The aim of this research was to introduce VB and compare the properties of traditionally baked VB with those of white bread (WB). It has been reported that sourdough VB had a thick and hard crust, large pores in crumb. longer processing time with high tolerance, rich aroma, good quality, high volume and weight, later staling and longer baking time at low temperature. In this research 2 different loaf weights (500 and 1500 g) for the both bread types were studied. It was observed that bread type had a significant effect on the moisture contents of crumb, under-crust and crust, crumb hydration capacity, and Texture Profile Analyzer (TPA) parameters except for springiness. VB had higher crumb moisture, crumb hydration capacity, firmness. cohesiveness, gumminess, and chewiness values, and the moisture content of under-crust and crust compared to white bread. In addition, 500 g loaves had lower crumb moisture. crumb hydration capacity, springiness, cohesiveness, and chewiness compared to 1500 g loaves. It is concluded that the causes of long life freshness of VB versus WB were the high moisture content and low starch retrogradation speed of its crumb in spite of its firmer and more elastic crumb texture.