The key to giving whole wheat bread a more appetising aroma and taste could lie in reducing levels of a single chemical compound known as ferulic acid, say researchers writing in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry.
Led by Devin Peterson from the University of Minnesota, USA, the research team report that the release of ferulic acid from bran in whole wheat flour is related to a reduction in important flavour and aroma compounds during the baking process.
Peterson and his team were able to confirm this observation in whole wheat bread by adding ferulic acid to refined wheat flour, where they saw that the addition of the compound also blocked aroma and flavour compounds that would usually form.
“The observed reduction in these five aroma compounds provides novel insight into the mechanisms of flavour development in whole wheat flour bread,” said the researchers, who added that their findings could open the door to making whole wheat bakery products more appealing to millions of people.