Application of multicriteria decision-making for assessing the shelf life of white wheat bread from color, texture, molecular organization and in vitro digestibility characteristics

Abstract Consumer scoring of bread is based on the perception of multiple attributes based on color, texture and aroma characteristics, and other factors as the perceived freshness. These perceived attributes frequently follow contradictory trends, e.g., while hardness tends to increase with aging, the rapidly digestible starch fraction tends to decrease. An ongoing research topic is to use multicriteria decision making (MCDM) for estimating how long bread can be kept on the shelf and still be considered fresh by consumers. To this end, white wheat bread was made without additives, stored unpacked on a shelf at room conditions. Color, texture, molecular organization of components, in vitro starch and protein digestibility of the bread formulations were assessed for different aging times. Results obtained with an algorithm (TOPSIS) revealed that bread remained fresh between 12 and 24 h with a 75% confidence level. This result was sustained under uncertainties of 5% in the bread characteristics, obtained via sensitivity analysis with Monte Carlo simulation. It was concluded that MCDM methods offer a useful and flexible tool for predicting consumer-perceived bread freshness, and for establishing its commercial shelf-life, based on the evolution of multiple, often conflicting, quality attributes.