Browning indicators in bread

Bread is the most important food in the Spanish household and represents the largest proportion of products produced by commercial bakeries. The browning indicators furosine, hydroxymethyl-furfural (HMF), and color were determined to evaluate heat effects induced during manufacture of these foods. The breads analyzed were common, special, sliced toasted, and snack breads. Identical sample preparation and HPLC conditions were used to determine HMF in all breads. The precision tested at high and low HMF concentration in breads was 2.60% and 1.57%, respectively. Recovery of HMF was 96.2%. The HMF values ranged from 2.2 to 68.8 mg/kg. Color index (100 - L*) ranged from 17.0 to 38.2. The linear correlations (r(2)) between 100 - L*/HMF were above 0.70 for common, special, and snack breads. Similar correlation was obtained between 100 - L*/HMF in a dough baking at different times. The furosine content in common bread ranged between 125 and 208 mg/100 g of protein. No linear correlation was found between furosine and HMF. Moreover, HMF and furosine were also determined in crumb and crust. Levels of HMF had a wide range (0.9-1.76 mg/kg) and furosine was between 43 and 221 mg/100 g of protein.