Rheological and Textural Characteristics of Functional Breads Fortified with Different Eggshell Powders

This study explores the rheologic, textural, and sensory characteristics of bread that has been fortified with eggshell powder (ESP) obtained from various dietary and growing conditions (industrial, organic, free range, and village). The fortification of ESP led to a reduction in water absorbtion capacity, stability, softening degree, maximum resistance, energy, and resistance to extension, while the value of extensibility increased. The highest water absorption value was observed in bread flour with a percentage of 61.9, whereas among breads with ESP fortification, the highest water absorption value was 61.2% in S1 (23.5 g) and S2 (30 g) village ESP-added flours. Only the extensibility value increased when ESP was added, but the effects on water absorption, stability, softening degree, maximum resistance, energy, and resistance to extension declined. The addition of ESP results in significant changes in chewiness, springiness, resilience, and cohesiveness (p≤0.05), but the gumminess value is found to be insignificant (p≥0.05). Through sensory evaluation, all bread samples received scores of 3.77–4.46 on a 5-point scale. The rheological, textural and sensory analyses results obtained from the control and fortified bread samples demonstrated that the inclusion of calcium from egg shell powder improved the structural properties of the flour. In addition, the utilization of eggshell powder at its maximum concentration (30 g) did not yield any detrimental consequences for the dough or the bread production process. Based on a comprehensive analysis, it is concluded that including ESP in bread is an appropriate strategy for dealing with calcium deficiency and is in line with consumer acceptability and bread production technology.