Improved Quality Attributes of Brabari and Lavash Flat Breads with Wheat Doughs Incorporated with Fenugreek Seed (Trigonella foenum graecum) Gum

The effects of fenugreek gum content (1.46–8.54%), and leavening time (0.59–3.41 h) on the dough farinographic traits of Barbari and Lavash flat breads were optimized using response surface methodology (RSM). Results showed that the Barbari doughs formulated with 4.93% fenugreek gum and leavened for 2.38 h can provide the maximum water absorption (59.37%), development (2.38 min) and stability (6.88 min) times, and extensibility (E, 83.51 mm), minimum softening degree (51.52 BU) and optimum amounts of resistance to stretching (R, 140.84 BU) and R/E (1.7). The optimal dough for producing Lavash bread can also be obtained by incorporating 5.31% fenugreek gum and 2.33 h leavening time. The validation experiments demonstrated that second-order polynomial models were adequate for the preparation of doughs. The physical, textural, color and sensory attributes of the flat breads produced with the control and optimal formulations were compared. A comparable quality between the control and optimal breads was observed. Practical Applications Several modifications in the formulations of flat breads have been recently made to improve their quality and delicacy. Use of fenugreek gum in dough composition of Iranian flat breads such as Barbari and Lavash can improve their quality and shelf life by reducing the staling and retrogradation rates. Optimization of farinograph and extensograph traits by modeling fenugreek gum concentration and leavening time of the prepared doughs can be a successful strategy to develop the flat breads with interesting quality characteristics in the bakery industry.