The role of flour lipids in the baking of Arabic bread

Fractionation and reconstitution techniques were used to study the function of lipids in Arabic bread. Three contrasting flour samples were defatted with chloroform and baked without lipid addition; each produced breads with unusual faults. Dough cell structure was severely disrupted resulting in an open and sticky crumb. These faults were partly prevented with the addition of 50% of the original lipid. At 100 addition of the original lipid, the faults were alleviated and, for two out of three flours, the results were indistinguishable from those baked from whole flour. Addition of either polar or non-polar fractions of the chloroform-extracted lipid produced breads without the faults of the defatted flour. Soy oil was less effective at restoring the properties of the defatted flour. At the high baking temperature required for Arabic bread, the lipid content of flour appears to be critical. It is suggested that the lipid stabilizes cells of the dough as they expand. Adding wheat lipid or soy oil at both 0·5 % and 1·0 % to whole flour did not affect bread scores. Exchange of free lipids between three flours did not account for differences in their overall potential for making Arabic bread.