Storage of parbaked bread affects shelf life of fully baked end product: a ¹H NMR study.

Full baking of earlier partially baked (parbaked) bread can supply fresh bread to the consumer at any time of the day. When parbaked bread loaves were stored at -25, 4 or 23°C, the extent of crumb to crust moisture migration and amylopectin retrogradation differed with storage temperature, and the firming rate was evidently lowest during frozen storage. The extent of crumb to crust moisture migration during parbaked bread storage largely determined the mass of the fresh finished bread, and its crumb and crust moisture contents. Initial NMR proton mobility, initial resilience, the extent of amylopectin retrogradation and changes in firmness and resilience during storage of fully baked bread were affected by its crumb moisture content. The lowest firming rate was observed for finished bread resulting from parbaked bread stored at -25°C, while the highest firming rate was observed for finished bread from parbaked bread stored at 23°C.