Soda bread

Abstract: Brown soda bread had a pH of 7-9 depending on the sodium bicarbonate concentration. Part-baked bread developed ropiness after two days at room temperature. Bacillus subtilis, B. pumilus and B. licheniformis were isolated and their spores displayed D-values in bread dough of 14, 10 and 56 min at 100°C. Germination and growth was examined in broth at pH 6-10 and at 4°, 20°, 30° and 37°C. No growth was observed at 4°C and at pH 10. Rebaking of the part-baked bread heat activated particularly B. licheniformis spores.

Abstract: Summary A pilot scale study designed to quantify the reduction of folic acid during bread baking in Ireland was undertaken. Flour was fortified with different concentrations of folic acid and used to make four different types of commercial bread. The dispersal of folic acid in flour on a pilot scale was variable but better homogeneity would have been achieved in the final bread due to batch size and thorough mixing of the dough. Generally, the heat degradation of folic acid during baking was between 21.9% and 32.1%. Whilst the percentage degradation of folic acid in white pan loaves, white baguettes and brown soda bread were similar the result in wholemeal bread was found to be significantly higher than in other bread types tested. Taking into account all variables affecting folic acid concentration during baking, a concentration of c. 225 μg 100 g−1 folic acid would be needed in flour to deliver commercial bread in Ireland with an average folic acid content of 120 μg 100 g−1 in line with Government requirements.

Abstract: Cellular function is well known to be influenced by the physical cues and architecture of their three dimensional (3D) microenvironment. As such, numerous synthetic and naturally-occurring biomaterials have been developed to provide such architectures to support the proliferation of mammalian cells in vitro and in vivo. In recent years, our group, and others, have shown that scaffolds derived from plants can be utilized for tissue engineering applications in biomedicine and in the burgeoning cultured meat industry. Such scaffolds are straightforward to prepare, allowing researchers to take advantage of their intrinsic 3D microarchitectures. During the 2020 SARS-CoV-2 pandemic many people around the world began to rediscover the joy of preparing bread at home and as a research group, our members participated in this trend. Having observed the high porosity of the crumb (the internal portion of the bread) we were inspired to investigate whether it might support the proliferation of mammalian cells in vitro. Here, we develop and validate a yeast-free "soda bread" that maintains its mechanical stability over two weeks in culture conditions. The scaffolding is highly porous, allowing the 3D proliferation of multiple cell types relevant to both biomedical tissue engineering and the development of novel future foods. Bread derived scaffolds are highly scalable and represent a surprising new alternative to synthetic or animal-derived scaffolds for addressing a diverse variety of tissue engineering challenges.