Assessing the Carasau Bread Doughs Microwave Spectra

Carasau bread (CB) is a traditional Sardinian flatbread with significant market potential, driving the need for advanced quality monitoring solutions in its production. Recent advancements in automation and engineering have enhanced process control, but a comprehensive understanding of CB dough prop...

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Main Authors: Elisabetta Orrù, Matteo B. Lodi, Luca Lodi
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2025-03-01
Series:Foods
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Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2304-8158/14/7/1177
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author Elisabetta Orrù
Matteo B. Lodi
Luca Lodi
author_facet Elisabetta Orrù
Matteo B. Lodi
Luca Lodi
author_sort Elisabetta Orrù
collection DOAJ
description Carasau bread (CB) is a traditional Sardinian flatbread with significant market potential, driving the need for advanced quality monitoring solutions in its production. Recent advancements in automation and engineering have enhanced process control, but a comprehensive understanding of CB dough properties remains essential. Dielectric spectroscopy (DS), particularly in the microwave (MW) range, has emerged as a non-destructive, cost-effective tool for food characterization, providing insights into microstructure and composition. MW DS has been applied to assess fermentation dynamics and ingredient influence in CB doughs, with previous studies modeling dielectric properties using a third-order Cole–Cole model up to 8.5 GHz and later extending to 20 GHz. Despite these advancements, the repeatability, reliability, and consistency of MW DS measurements on CB doughs have not been systematically assessed. This study aims to fill this gap by analyzing MW DS measurements on ten CB dough samples with standard composition (water 50%, yeast 1.5%, salt 1.5%) in the 0.5–6 GHz range, both before and after leavening, for 10 different samples and a total of 100 measurements. Even though the correlation between spectra is high, and even if the coefficient of variation is below 5% before leavening, the z-score analysis and the kernel density estimation highlighted that the distribution of dielectric data is heterogeneous, showing that variability across samples exists, especially after leavening. Finally, the influence of pressure, temperature, and relative humidity was excluded. This statistical evaluation of MW DS measurement provided critical insights into the robustness of MW DS for industrial applications.
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spelling doaj-art-598592f6eae84ccb8d95f0d19bf038be2025-08-20T03:06:35ZengMDPI AGFoods2304-81582025-03-01147117710.3390/foods14071177Assessing the Carasau Bread Doughs Microwave SpectraElisabetta Orrù0Matteo B. Lodi1Luca Lodi2Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, University of Cagliari, Via Marengo 2, 09123 Cagliari, ItalyDepartment of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, University of Cagliari, Via Marengo 2, 09123 Cagliari, ItalyDepartment of Economics and Management, Università degli Studi di Firenze, Via delle Pandette 32, 50127 Firenze, ItalyCarasau bread (CB) is a traditional Sardinian flatbread with significant market potential, driving the need for advanced quality monitoring solutions in its production. Recent advancements in automation and engineering have enhanced process control, but a comprehensive understanding of CB dough properties remains essential. Dielectric spectroscopy (DS), particularly in the microwave (MW) range, has emerged as a non-destructive, cost-effective tool for food characterization, providing insights into microstructure and composition. MW DS has been applied to assess fermentation dynamics and ingredient influence in CB doughs, with previous studies modeling dielectric properties using a third-order Cole–Cole model up to 8.5 GHz and later extending to 20 GHz. Despite these advancements, the repeatability, reliability, and consistency of MW DS measurements on CB doughs have not been systematically assessed. This study aims to fill this gap by analyzing MW DS measurements on ten CB dough samples with standard composition (water 50%, yeast 1.5%, salt 1.5%) in the 0.5–6 GHz range, both before and after leavening, for 10 different samples and a total of 100 measurements. Even though the correlation between spectra is high, and even if the coefficient of variation is below 5% before leavening, the z-score analysis and the kernel density estimation highlighted that the distribution of dielectric data is heterogeneous, showing that variability across samples exists, especially after leavening. Finally, the influence of pressure, temperature, and relative humidity was excluded. This statistical evaluation of MW DS measurement provided critical insights into the robustness of MW DS for industrial applications.https://www.mdpi.com/2304-8158/14/7/1177bread doughsCarasaufood engineeringmicrowave spectroscopy
spellingShingle Elisabetta Orrù
Matteo B. Lodi
Luca Lodi
Assessing the Carasau Bread Doughs Microwave Spectra
Foods
bread doughs
Carasau
food engineering
microwave spectroscopy
title Assessing the Carasau Bread Doughs Microwave Spectra
title_full Assessing the Carasau Bread Doughs Microwave Spectra
title_fullStr Assessing the Carasau Bread Doughs Microwave Spectra
title_full_unstemmed Assessing the Carasau Bread Doughs Microwave Spectra
title_short Assessing the Carasau Bread Doughs Microwave Spectra
title_sort assessing the carasau bread doughs microwave spectra
topic bread doughs
Carasau
food engineering
microwave spectroscopy
url https://www.mdpi.com/2304-8158/14/7/1177
work_keys_str_mv AT elisabettaorru assessingthecarasaubreaddoughsmicrowavespectra
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AT lucalodi assessingthecarasaubreaddoughsmicrowavespectra