Evaluation of the Effect of Hexose Oxidase on the Bread Baking Properties of Flour from Three Kenyan Wheat Varieties

This study determined the effects of hexose oxidase on dough and bread made from wheat varieties grown in Kenya. Flour from Duma, Njoro 2 and Robin wheat varieties were treated with HOX at 0, 20, 40, 60 and 80 HOX units/kg of flour. The effect of this treatment on water absorption, dough development time, dough stability, mixing tolerance index, dough elasticity, dough resistance to extension and bread volume was studied. The control bread was prepared from untreated and potassium bromate (KBrO3) treated dough. The findings indicate that HOX did not affect the water absorption, dough development time and the mixing tolerance index of all four but it increased the dough stability of Duma wheat. Addition of HOX to the dough also resulted in selective increase of dough strength and a reduction in dough elasticity. All HOX treated loaves had increased loaf volume. Treatment of dough with KBrO3 at 75ppm resulted in an increase in bread volume for Duma wheat while a decrease in bread volume was observed for Njoro 2 and Robin wheat.