Effect of sodium alginate on baking performance of bread

Bread baking properties were investigated at various levels (0% to 0.9% flour weight) of sodium alginate.The result showed that:sodium alginate significantly increased specific volume of bread (p<0.05) , compared with the control, the specific volume for samples with 0.3% and 0.5% sodium alginate increased 8.2% and 6.7%, respectively. Sodium alginate decreased the hardness (p<0.05) , gumminess and chewiness as well as increased springiness and cohesiveness of bread (p<0.05) , showing that it could improve the quality of bread (p<0.05) . With longer storage, sodium alginate significantly reduced hardness (p<0.05) and rate of moisture migration of bread, indicating that sodium alginate showed better anti-aging performance and extended the shelf life of the bread.