Fortifying bread with each of three antioxidants

White bread was fortified individually with fat-coated L-ascorbic acid (AsA), cold-water-dispersible (CWD) beta-carotene, and CWD all-rac-alpha-tocopheryl acetate (ToAc) at levels of 64, 5, and 100 mg, respectively, of active ingredient per 100 g of flour (14% mb). The freshly baked pup-loaves retained 76, 67, and 96% of added antioxidant, respectively. To extract ToAc quantitatively from bread or dough, dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) gave better results than hexane, which indicated that ToAc was in a partially bound state. ''Protein-encased'' (PE) beta-carotene did not impart a yellow color to bread crumb and had one-fourth higher retention in fresh bread when compared to CWD beta-carotene. In leaves stored at 25 degrees C for one to seven days, AsA disappeared rapidly and PE beta-carotene disappeared slowly; CWD beta-carotene and ToAc were stable. In spite of storage loss, bread fortified with PE beta-carotene retained significantly higher levels of beta-carotene when compared to CWD beta-carotene. One serving size (one slice, 28 g) of three-day-old bread fortified with one of the three antioxidants was calculated to provide 7, 120-150, and 13-168, respectively, of the adult recommended daily allowances (RDA) for vitamins C, E, and A. When bread was fortified with both fat-coated AsA and CWD beta-carotene and stored for five days, no protecting effect on the retention of the antioxidants was found.