Water redistribution and structural changes of starch during storage of a gluten-free bread

The objective of the present work was to analyze molecular and supramolecular changes of bread starch and to relate bread firmness increase during storage with starch recrystallization and water hydration levels and migration in gluten-free bread. At the studied conditions starch was in the supercooled region of the state diagram, at a temperature between T-g (glass transition temperature) and T-m (melting temperature), feasible to crystallize. The crystalline degree during storage was followed by the intensity increase in the X-ray diffraction peaks. During bread storage, water migration occurred from the crumb towards the crust. Water amount and redistribution affected the kind of starch crystallites formed and firmness of aged bread. It was not the total amount of crystalline fraction that determined bread firmness, but the type of crystallites formed. These observations are a further evidence that bread firmness development and starch recrystallization, although being related phenomena, are obviously separate events.