Calcium Propionate Function In Bread Experiment And Analysis

There are many types of food preservatives. Such as benzoic acid and acetic acid. Sorbic acid, potassium sorbate, calcium sorbate, propionic acid, sodium propionate and calcium propionate, etc., but for the preservation of bread, currently only acetic acid and calcium propionate is most suitable in function, especially calcium propionate is the best. Because calcium propionate itself is non-toxic. It is slightly acidic, which can inhibit the growth of mold without affecting the reproduction of yeast. Now people’s living standards are gradually improving. The demand for bread is increasing day by day, therefore, the problem of anti-mildew of bread is gradually paid attention to. According to China National Bureau of Standards (1984) No. 211 document approved calcium propionate included in GB2760-2014 food additives use hygienic standards. It is stipulated that the maximum total amount of additives is not more than 1% (calcium propionate 0.314%).

Now we conduct an application experimental analysis of the food additive calcium propionate function in bread making process, and discuss the effect of calcium propionate function on inhibiting the mold of bread and the factors that affect the bacteriostatic effect of calcium propionate. The main contents of the experiment include:

• The mildew in bread storage without calcium propionate
• Standard flour powder moldy situation when add calcium propionate
• The influence of flour varieties and baking time on bread storage
• The effect on bread storage when adding different levels of calcium propionate
• The effect of different amount of calcium propionate on the storage time of packaged bread products
• The impact of food packaging on the bread storage time

Analysis of calcium propionate’s antibacterial effect function and influencing factors

In the following, we will compare the experimental data of several groups to explore the effect of calcium propionate on inhibiting the mildew of bread and the factors affecting the bacteriostatic effect of calcium propionate.

1. The storage experiment For sweet and salty bread added no calcium propionate food additive :
2. Experiment condition : Without package, the storage time is the same 40 hours.

Table 1: Molding of standard flour sweet and salty bread without added calcium propionate

2. Add 0.2% calcium propionate sweet and salty bread for unpackaged storage experiment. The storage time is also the same, all in 60 hours. It is 20 hours longer than standard flour bread without added calcium propionate.

Table 2: Standard powdered sweet and salty bread with mildew added calcium propionate

3. Add 0.2% standard flour sweet bread and Fuqiang high-gluten flour powder sweet bread for unpackaged storage experiment, the storage time is basically the same. In other words, the length of bread storage time has little to do with flour quality (meaning that the gluten value is within a certain range). But it has a greater relationship with the length of bread baking time. When the baking temperature is the same and the humidity in the oven is constant, the longer the baking time, the more water will be lost in the bread and the storage time will increase significantly.

Table 3: Effects of flour varieties and baking time on bread storage

4. Add different content of calcium propionate bread for unpackaged storage experiment, its storage time will extend with the increase of calcium propionate content. When the calcium propionate content is 0.25%, it can be stored for three days (about 72 hours). When the content is 0.30%, the storage time can reach more than 80 hours. Add calcium propionate for 1 to 2 days.

Table 4: Effect of calcium propionate dosage on bread storage time

5. Add different amounts of calcium propionate bread and pack it in ordinary food bags for storage experiments. The storage time is also extended with the increase of calcium propionate content, which is 1-2 days longer than that without packaging. Up to 4 days in total.

Table 5: Effect of the amount of calcium propionate on the storage time of packaged bread products

6.Add 0.25% calcium propionate powder with the same content and use different packaging materials. For storage experiments, the storage time is related to the material of the food bag. That is to say, although there is a gap between low-quality food bags, the gap is relatively small. Compared with high-quality food bags, low-quality food bags have a larger storage time. It can be considered that ordinary food bags can generally be stored for more than 4 days. High-quality food bags can be stored for more than 5 days.

Table 6: Effect of food packaging on bread storage time

We can get the result from the above tables that the added dose of calcium propionate is best from 0.25% to 0.30% bacteriostatic effect, and fully meets the requirements of national standards. Calculated at the retail price, the average bread per pound of flour increased by 0.016 to 0.0135 yuan. In the constant temperature and humidity chamber, although it can only be stored for 4-5 days, in fact the daily temperature is not constant and the humidity will not be as high as in the experiment, especially in the north, the climate is relatively dry, so in actual use, The bread storage time must be longer than the experimental time. It is also possible to store for ten days in a good climate.