BRIEF HISTORY OF BREAD

The history of bread is as old as the history of civilizations. Bread is the oldest and most important food matter of human being. According to the general belief, the first humans saw that pores occurred in wheat breaks wetted with water and when they cooked the pored mass on hot stones , they found that it tasted delicious. In the Neolithic Age, it is known that dough obtained from some herbal products such as chestnut, oat valonia by being mashed and mixed with water was cooked on hot stones or in ash. According to the information obtained from researches, Babylons knew to cook bread in special ovens in BC 4000 years. Again, according to the findings obtained as a result of excavations, in BC 4300 years, bakers and millers were executing their art.

Bread spread to Middle and other European countries from the South in later years. Europeans used other cereal products like rye before wheat but in the 15th century, they began to make white bread from wheat. After microorganisms and yeast were actively known (in the 19th century), bread production became an industry field. One of the leading countries that consume bread in great quantities is Turkey.

In our country, commonly bread made of wheat flour and leaven is being consumed. However, bread from corn, rye, oaf and similar cereals depending on regions is being consumed though in restricted quantities. Bread was praised and considered as holly almost in all religions as a product and symbol of working hard and blessing of God. In the Islam religion, bread is also the leading product that is considered holly and valuable.

Bread has a special place in the Islam culture as in the Christian and Jewish religion. In cultures where bread has a special place, the bakery work is also important. According to our belief, Gabriel (AS) taught Adam (AS) to make bread by grinding flour: for this reason, bakers accept Adam (AS) as “PİR”. They accept Amr Bin Ümran as a second “PİR” who lived in Medina in the era of Hz.Muhammed (SAV) prophet of Islam.

BREAD INFORMATION

How bread is made?

Bread
Bread is made of wheat flour (bread may also be made of corn, rye and oaf flours). Here, in recipe of bread making, wheat flour will be considered. Bread is a basic food matter made by mixing wheat flour, yeast, additive, salt and water in some definite rates and kneading the mixture to yeast it.
Bread that is a source of carbohydrate and protein has a great significance in our country where especially wheat based nourishment is common. In Turkey, 66 percent of energy consumed by people in their daily life is met by cereals and 56 percent of that rate is met individually by bread. In our country, average 450 gram bread is consumed a day per person.

Flour
Wheat flour is a half treated food matter obtained by grinding cleaned and annealed wheat.
Flour quality is generally estimated through measurable physical, chemical and technological characteristics of flour and dough. Generally, high quality flour term is confused with the term of strong flour. The strong flour is especially related to protein amount and quality in baking. Flour color, protein amount, protein quality, uniformity, water holding capacity, kneading and fermentation tolerance, gas establishing ability of dough, gas holding capacity of gluten are the main quality indicators of bread flours.

Bread flours are not used just after grinding treatment. They are rested at least two weeks in summer months and 3 weeks in winter months under normal conditions for maturing. As a result of that resting process, flour is oxidized, color of flour turns white, dough gets easy treatable ability, yeasting ability of dough increases and so higher quality and productive bread is obtained.

Water
It is a component that ensures mixing of other components, provides yeasting that gives desirable fluid structure to dough and is effective on final product quality. Water in medium hardness degree is used in bread making. (8-12 French hardness).

Salt
It is a crystal agent composed of sodium and chlorine elements. It both gives taste to bread and corrects the structure of dough.
The main desirable characteristics of salt used in bakery are as follows;
It must have a granular structure that prevents lumping during storage.
It must be physically clean, brilliant and white.
It must be highly soluble in water
It must contain Cu and Fe minerals

Yeast
Though information on production of first bread go far to Babylon in BC 4000 years, it is known that the first yeasted bread was made in the Old Egypt in BC 1800 years after dough was found by chance.

Yeasting in production of various bakery products, mainly in production of bread, reveals by volume increase in dough and presence of carbon dioxide. The most productive yeast activities occur at temperature between 30-36C and humidity between 60-70 %.

Bread making procedures
Kneading
The first important procedure in bread making is to knead various matters (mixture) to form dough in a manner giving same elasticity and density in every part of dough.

Fermentation
Dough must be yeasted (fermentation) for a while after kneading. For production of a light, high volume and high quality bread, fermentation is obligatory.

Dough Treatment
Dough is subjected to the following treatments in period between boiler fermentation to cooking;
Cutting- rolling- interval fermentation-shaping - final fermentation-scratching with knife.
As a result of cooking, dough converts to aromatic product (bread) by means of temperature. The average cooking temperature of bread is 220-245 C and cooking time is 18-20 minutes depending on bread size.

Nutrition and Bread
As we stated before, bread is the main nourishment matter for human.
Though its content, shape and technique changed, today it is known, produced and consumed in every part of world. It is the common food of all human being.

As it is a cheap product, it is more consumed by low income people in all around the world. However, as it is emphasized by the related bodies that bread must be produced under definite standards and consumed according to some definite rules. Today, human being is saved from getting tired much thanks to science and technique and requires a new arrangement with regard to foods they need.

The bread quantity consumed in a day per person is between 150-700 grams. According to the research data, daily 350 grams bread is being consumed per person. According to a research made in 1984, daily 345 grams bread is being consumed per person.

The bread consumption is higher in low income families when compared to high income families. A man who works physically in medium level consumes daily 450 grams bread and construction workers who physically work hard consume daily 760 grams bread.
In addition to the above stated ones, culture and education differences directly effect bread consumption. However, in general, daily 400-450 grams bread is being consumed in our country. That is, 45% of energy(2291 k.cl) consumed per person is met by protein and 47% of protein (68 grams) by bread.

The vitamin and mineral content of bread made of wheat flour is higher than the bread made of white flour. Besides, its pulp amount is higher. The energy value of rye and whole-wheat bread is lower than white bread. As it is known, lysine amino acid in bread protein is limited.

It must be remembered that bread can’t practically meet the energy need individually. Sufficient protein+ energy is obtained with additive foods that contain vitamins A and C not contained in bread. Researches made in recent years indicate that pulp that forms the support tissue of herbs is very important for human health. Pulp consisted of polysaccharides such as cellulose, hemi cellulose and lignin can’t be digested by enzymes and by forming some definite mass in intestines, ensure movement. In this way, waste matters composed of foods and body secretions are thrown from body without being converted to harmful matters. In societies fed with high pulp foods, large intestine diseases are rarely seen and important health problems are found in societies fed with low pulp foods. The best source of pulp is the barks of cereals and dried beans. For this reason, whole-wheat bread must be consumed in sufficient amounts.

It has been determined that whole-wheat bread and dried beans having high pulp value are useful in control of diabetic disease in adults. Today, in diets of diabetics, whole-wheat bread is given in desired amounts.

Especially, pulp of whole-wheat prevents increasing of blood lipids. High blood lipid is a risk factor for coronary heart diseases. For this reason, whole-wheat bread is strongly suggested in nourishment. Besides, energy value of whole-wheat bread is low. People who do not want gain weight must be fed with whole-wheat bread or rye bread instead of white bread. Whole-wheat bread is also suggested to people who suffer from constipation. Though such advantages of whole-wheat bread, if it is consumed much, it may cause some problems. Bran binds minerals such as zinc, iron, calcium etc useful for body and decreases their bio benefits. However, it has been observed during researches that fitatins in bran are broken during yeasting and that binding effect decreases. Researches suggested that starch does not increase the cholesterol level in blood and in people who meet 80 % their calorie need from bread, coronary heart diseases are not seen.

The most common disorder of today is undoubtedly tooth decay (caries). Tooth decay develops under the effect of sensitive body constitution, bacteria and nutrition. Differences depend on genetic and nourishment during teeth development has a great effect. Carbohydrates in mouth cavity cause tooth decay. In addition to fermentation of carbohydrates, their characteristics and compositions are also important. For instance, sticky carbohydrates produce more organic acid than liquid ones.
It is known that bacteria in spittle produce more organic acid in starchy medium than sugary medium. At the beginning it was thought that cereal starch causes toot decay more than sugar. However, the researches determined that white and black breads do not cause tooth decay. In contrary, it is estimated that fitatin cariostatic in black bread has a tooth decay preventing effect. In a research made on that subject, it was claimed that fresh bread with high gluten content causes less tooth decay than stale bread with low gluten content. The effect of outer covering of bread on mental and physical performance of human is not known much. In a research made on school children and factory workers, it was determined that workers who are fed with bread and fruit keep their performance in late hours of day and sugar level in blood continues longer. For this reason, breads with plenty of outer covering are suggested for people who work hard both mentally and physically.