The fate of potassium bromate when used as a breadmaking improver

Abstract

Abstract Bread was made by bulk fermentation and also by mechanical development, from doughs containing amounts of added potassium bromate ranging from 0 to 200 parts/million and the amount of residual potassium bromate in each loaf was determined. The doughs were made from bleached and also from unbleached flours. When the added potassium bromate level was less than 50 parts/million the residual level was too small to be detected. At higher levels of addition, increasing amounts of residual potassium bromate began to appear, bulk fermentation giving more than mechanical development. Possible reasons for this behaviour are discussed.