Sensory profiles of bread made from paired samples of organic and conventionally grown wheat grain

The Canadian hard red spring wheat cultivar "Park" was grown in 2005 in Edmonton, AB, Canada on both conventionally and organically managed land, situated less than 1 km apart. Grains from the paired wheat samples were compared for cereal-grain-quality attributes. For sensory analysis, organically and conventionally produced wheat grains were milled into flour and baked into 60% whole wheat bread. Color, texture, taste, and aroma attributes of bread were compared using the sensory technique of descriptive analysis. Organic grain contained more wholemeal protein than conventional grain (P <= 0.05), but both were greater than 14% protein, indicating excellent grain quality for yeast-leavened bread. Mixograph analysis revealed that conventional flour produced stronger bread dough than organic flour (P <= 0.05). Visual observation confirmed these findings as conventional flour produced larger bread loaf volume. Fourteen sensory attributes were generated by the descriptive analysis panel. No differences were observed for flavor, aroma, or color attributes (P > 0.05), but the panel perceived the organic bread to be more "dense" in texture (P <= 0.05) with smaller air cells in the appearance of the crumb (P <= 0.05) than conventional bread.