Research Article Rheological and Quality Characteristics of Taftoon Bread as Affected by Salep and Persian Gums M. A. Sahari, R. Mohammadi, and Z. Hamidi Esfehani Food Technology Department, Faculty of Agriculture, Tarbiat Modares University, P.O. Box 14115-111, Tehran, Iran Correspondence should be addressed to M. A. Sahari; sahari@modares.ac.ir Received 12 March 2013; Revised 12 November 2013; Accepted 18 November 2013; Published 23 January 2014 Academic Editor: Fabienne Remize Copyright © 2014 M. A. Sahari et al. Tis is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Efects of salep gum at concentrations of 0.5%, 1%, 3%, and 5% (w/w four basis) and the Persian gum at concentrations of 0.5%, 1%, and 3% (w/w four basis) and combination of the two gums at concentrations of 0.5% + 0.5%, 0.75% + 0.25%, and 0.25% + 0.75% on rheological properties of the wheat four dough and quality of Tafoon bread were studied with regard to retardation of staling. Rheological (farinograph and extensograph) characteristics, staling, and organoleptic evaluations were performed on the dough and the resulting Tafoon bread. Statistical results showed that the salep gum at 5% and Persian gum at 3% (w/w four basis) had a signifcant efect on the dough properties. Salep and Persian gums when each separately added increased and decreased dough water absorption, respectively. Both hydrocolloids increased the dough resistance to extension and decreased its extensibility. Persian gum shows dual nature in water absorption and some other baking properties. Textural studies revealed that addition of 5% salep gum (w/w four basis) reduced the bread crumb frmness and delayed the staling process of the Tafoon bread. X-ray difraction study also confrmed this result. 1. Introduction Bread, especially wheat bread, is widely consumed all over the world particularly in the developing countries and is an important source of protein and calories [1]. Bread is not spoiled by the microorganism or endogenous enzymes; however, its quality is lost by staling during storage [2]. Bread staling is a very complex process and many physicochemical changes occur that culminate in recrystallization of amylose and amylopectin [3]. Tere have been many approaches on how to retard the process, among which the most successful ones are the use of additives such as emulsifers and enzymes [2]. Tere are several studies showing the potential use of hydrocolloids in baking industry as a way to retard staling [4–6]. Tafoon is one of the popular Iranian fat breads, produced from sof white wheat fours of higher extraction level. Te bread has a round or oval shape, with the dimensions of 400– 500 mm length, 400–500 mm width, and 2 mm thickness, with the average weight of 149-150 g. Ingredients of Tafoon bread are four = 100 kg, water = 78–90 L, yeast = 450–650 g, and salt = 90–130 g. Te chemical compositions of a loaf of Tafoon bread are crude protein = 10.47% dry mass, crude fat = 0.57% dries mass, crude fber = 0.92% dry mass, ash = 2.53% crud mass, hydrocarbons = 85.5% dry mass, NaCl = 0.86% dry mass, and moisture = 26.87%, with the pH value of 7 and 389 kcal/100 energy [7]. Salep gum is produced by grinding the dried tubers of certain wild orchids; it is commonly used as a thickening and stabilizing agent; especially in ice-cream and desserts [8]. Salep is a valuable source for glucomannan [9]. Persian gum (zedu) is derived from Amygdalus scoparia Spach. Zedu is widely found in Iran, Iraq, Turkey, and Afghanistan. Chemical structure of zedu has not yet been studied in detail and is just known to contain a compound named cerasin. Te substance is insoluble in cold water, while it shows properties similar to Arabic gum in boiling water [10]. As it has been shown, hydrocolloids can improve the quality of bakery products. Terefore, the aim of present study is to analyze the efects of salep and Persian gums on rheological and qualitative characteristics and retarding staling of Tafoon bread. To the best of our knowledge, this is the frst study of this type on Tafoon bread. Hindawi Publishing Corporation International Journal of Food Science Volume 2014, Article ID 813286, 7 pages http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2014/813286