Understanding the Characteristics and Staling of “Pan de Muerto”: A Traditional Mexican Bread by Relating Its Fat Content to Starch Retrogradation

Abstract

“Pan de Muerto” is a traditional bread type, emblematic of Mexican bakery. This work’s objectives were defining its characteristics, determining the effect of fat content, fat type, and storage conditions on its staling, and examining the relative impact of these conditions on fat crystallization and starch retrogradation. Staling was evaluated via changes in Young’s modulus. Fat crystallization and starch retrogradation were studied considering the thermal and crystalline properties of unmodified and freeze-dried-defatted crumb. This bread is a hybrid of bakery and pastry products. Fat type, fat proportion, and storage conditions resulted in different staling behaviors not directly dependent on water content. Only butter crystallization depended on storage conditions. Starch retrograded over eight days of storage. The starch crystals’ properties depended on fat content, whereas storage conditions impacted the rate of retrogradation. New relations between fat content and starch retrogradation are shown.