Improvement of Bread-making Quality by the Addition of Betaine

The functionality of betaine has recently become clearer. The influence of betaine on bread-making quality was examined in order to evaluate the utility of betaine in general processed foods. Breads with added betaine were produced using two methods: adding betaine before dough mixing (positive control group), or adding during dough mixing (late addition group). These breads were compared with normal bread (negative control group). The results indicated that the gassing characteristics and gas retention of the positive control group significantly decreased compared to that of the negative control group (p<0.05). The positive control group showed lower specific loaf volume (p<0.05) and increased hardness of the crumbs (p<0.05) and these characteristics affected the texture upon sensory evaluation. The late addition group showed improved specific loaf volume and hardness of the crumbs. Therefore, delaying the time of addition of betaine improves the bread-making quality of breads containing betaine.