Development and optimization of value added bread using response surface methodology

Natural antioxidants or phytochemical antioxidants are secondary metabolites of plants. Ginger (Zingiber officinale) can be a major source of natural or phytochemical antioxidants such as beta-carotene, ascorbic acid, terpenoids, alkaloids, and polyphenols such as flavonoids, flavones glycosides, rutin etc. It is an important commercial crop which is, used both as spice and medicine and its therapeutic benefits of ginger are mainly due to the presence of volatile oils. Consumption of bakery products in the country is increasing day by day and bread is a staple food having several attractive features. In the view of health benefit of ginger it may be worthwhile to explore possibility of incorporating ginger extract in wheat flour for the development of bread to provide a convenient food to supplement the diet.. Present study was an effort to standardize the level of ginger extract in formulation for the development of value added bread. To optimize the quantity of sugar and ginger extract to be added, Response Surface Methodology (RSM) was used, while rest of the ingredient level was kept constant. The lower and upper limits for sugar and ginger extract were taken as 20-30 g and 10-20 ml, respectively. Control treatment was prepared without ginger extract addition. All thirteen combinations and control were subjected for sensory quality evaluation on a 9 point hedonic scale. From the study, it was found that the bread having composition 17.93 g sugar, and 15 ml ginger extract per 100 g of bread was found optimum and the said formulation was acceptable and recommended for value added bread. The optimized bread was found to be superior in terms of minerals, calcium and iron as compared to control bread. Since, the bread was a good source of calcium and iron, hence it can be recommended for consumption for children and old age people. The addition of ginger extract, also gave an excellent antioxidant effect on the bread compared with control. It can be recommended as one of the value added products.