Properties of barley bran bread and the effect of gluten addition

Barley bran is a useful source of dietary fiber, and it is expected to improve dietary fiber intake by adding it to other foods. In this study, we tried to utilize barley bran obtained by an innovative barley milling method that can selectively collect barley bran, which contains a large amount of functional components such as β-glucan and polyphenols. We evaluated bread that was prepared by gradually replacing the wheat flour with barley bran at 10%, 20%, 30%, and 40%, and the effect of the barley bran on the properties of the bread. Because barley bran does not form a gluten network unlike wheat flour, we also evaluated the effect of adding gluten to improve the properties of the barley bran bread. In order to determine these effects, we measured the weight, volume, moisture content, color tone and texture of the bread and we compared it to bread without barley bran or gluten (control). As a result, the bread in which 10% of the wheat flour was replaced with barley bran had the same shape and texture as the control. The amount of dietary fiber was about 1.7 times that of the control, and it was shown that the use of barley bran in bread can contribute to improving dietary fiber intake. When the replacement ratio of the barley bran was 20% or more, the properties of the barley bran bread were significantly different from the control. Bread in which 20% of the wheat flour was replaced with barley bran showed an improvement in volume by adding gluten, but no improvement was observed in the other measured parameters. It was shown that barley bran bread becomes a low swelling and hard bread even if gluten is added when the replacement ratio is 30% or more. The reason for this was that the dietary fiber contained in the barley bran inhibited the formation of the gluten network, and the amount of starch contained in the barley bran was low.