MXPA99007311A - Polydextrose as anti-staling agent - Google Patents

Abstract

Se desarrolla un método para retardar el endurecimiento de pan y otros productos horneados y para alargar su duración. El método utiliza polidextrosa, una condensación vinculada al azar de polímero de D-glucosa teniendo como vinculador sorbitol y algúnácido adecuado (e.g.ácido cítrico), tal como un ingrediente en productos horneados. Esas propiedades mejoradas son generalmente son logradas con efectos adversos en las características organolépticas del horneado. También se considera cómo la presente invención permite a la pasta obtener propiedades de mejor amasado y en el horneado final la calidad del producto es igual o mejor que los panes horneados sin polidextrosa. Por otra parte, la gomosidad que es normalmente asociada con el uso de composiciones de la enzima anti-endurecimiento también son eliminadas o minimizadas por las dosificaciones de enzima usada de acuerdo a la invención.

Description

POLYDEXTROSE AS AN ANTI-HARDENING AGENT FIELD OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to a method used to retard the hardening of bread and other baked goods and extend their shelf life. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Baked goods, such as bread, muffins, cakes, cookies, donuts and other confectionery products, are typically subject to hardening and other instabilities. For example, after processing, such products tend to lose their desirable texture and flavor qualities associated with freshness. In particular, enriched breads, such as family-produced and packaged white loaves, have relatively short shelf lives and can have shelf lives of approximately five days or less, after which they are typically considered to be hardened The so-called "sweet baked" products that have a high content of sugar and fat (such as donuts and cakes) tend to harden at a slower speed, because the presence of sugar and fat retard hardening, but Products with a lower sugar and fat content (such as muffins) harden relatively quickly.

- The monetary and product losses are substantial for the international baked goods industry due to such hardening. The relatively short shelf life of bread products and sweet baked goods with lower sugar and fat content has also resulted in the need to create and maintain production and distribution systems that operate within the limited window of proscribed stability by the hardening phenomenon - - resulting in additional inefficiencies in production, storage, inventory control and distribution. Various techniques and additives have been developed and used to increase the duration before the hardening (and thus the shelf life) of the baked products, in particular bread products. These have included the use of preservatives in the dough mix, the reduction of the oxygen content of the package, the reduction of moisture loss and acidification. These approaches have also included the use of controlled atmospheric packing and the incorporation into the bread dough of additives that inhibit enzymatic and non-enzymatic darkening. It was shown by Boussingault in 1852 that the hardening of the bread is not due to the loss of moisture by the drying process. In his experiments, Boussingault sealed bread in a glass tube to prevent moisture loss. He found that although the moisture content remained constant under these conditions, the bread hardened. However, when the loaves lose moisture during storage, they become harder and less acceptable. It is generally known that breads containing higher concentrations of water harden at a slower rate. J.B. Boussingault, Experiments to determine the transformation of fresh bread into hard bread (Experiment to determine the trans formation of fresh bread into stale bread). Ann. Chem.-Phys. 36: 490, 1852. Hence, the improved packing can lead to a reduced hardening, but the packing can not eliminate the hardening. Additionally, some baked goods (including breads and muffins) can be sold without packaging. Kim and D'Appolonia have shown that the addition of water-insoluble pentosans to bread dough slows down the overall aging of starch gels and therefore retards the hardening of the bread. Pentosanas flour have properties similar to those of vegetable gums. They are viscous at room temperature, thin during heating and are highly hydrophilic. Although effective in delaying the hardening of bread, pentosans insoluble in water - - have resulted in a remarkable reduction in bread volume. Bread volume is considered one of the most important, if not the only most important attribute of a bread product, so materially reducing the volume reduces the quality of the bread. S.K. Kim and B.J. D'Appolonia, Effect of pentosans on the delay of wheat starch gels (Effect of pentosans on the retardation of wheat starch gels). Cereal Chemistry: 54: 150, 1977. Bacterial amylases derived from B. Subtilines and other maltogenic amylases can be added to bread doughs as anti-hardening agents. The enzymes work on the starch fraction of the flour, modifying the starch components in such a way that retrogradation is less likely to occur; they create low molecular weight sugars and dextrins that improve the water retention capacity of baked goods. The difficulty in commercially applying most enzymes is that the activity must be carefully controlled for a wide variety of conditions encountered during bread baking and distribution. At concentrations still 0.1% above the recommended concentrations or at higher storage temperatures than expected, the enzymatic activity in the bread is so high that the bread becomes gummy and viscous and unacceptable to the consumer.

Also, excessive amounts of amylases and low baking temperatures produce a gummy and weak crumb structure, causing problems in the slicer. However, at carefully controlled concentrations, it has been shown that amylases retard the hardness of bread. M. Maleki, A. Schulz and J.M. Bruaemmer Hardening of the bread. II Effect of bacterial, fungal and cereal alpha-amylases on freshness (Staling of bread, II Effect of bacterial, fungal and cereal alpha-amylases on freshness). Getreide Mehl Bro. 26: 211, 1972. Enzymes, however, are difficult to integrate and mix uniformly in a baked product; the amount of added enzymes has to be carefully graduated. If enzymes are added at too high a concentration, the entire batch can be ruined. The baking industry uses surfactant lipids, emulsifying emulsifiers and softeners of the migajon, to produce the soft type bread preferred by most consumers. This is debatable as to whether the surfactants actually slow down the hardening rate or only produce soft bread whose crumb is then hardened at the same speed as that of bread made without surfactants. Pelshenki and Hampel have confirmed that butter and emulsifying emulsifiers resulted in a milder bread crumb only during the first six hours after baking. After this, both the hardening of the crumb and the retrogradation of the starch increased more rapidly, compared to the crumb that did not contain fat or surfactant lipids. P.E. Pelshenki and G. Hampel. Baker's Digest. 36 (3): 48, 1962. Therefore, in spite of the extensive investigation of the hardening of bread and other baked goods during the past century, bakery products are still perishable. In particular, bread products harden relatively quickly. Most researchers attribute the firmness changes mainly to the physicochemical reactions of the amylopectin fraction of the starch components; although flour proteins may be involved to some degree. Slow the hardening speed (hardening) by technological means such as processing, formulation, storage conditions and additives have been of limited benefit. The main effects of smoothing have been produced by the use of lipid surfactants. The use of heat-stable a-amylase and other enzymes is difficult to control, but they can be potentially useful. Known techniques have resulted in limited extensions of shelf life for commercial baked goods, but these techniques sometimes result in negative organoleptic effects on the final baked goods. Therefore, there remains the need to develop techniques that decrease the speed of hardening in baked goods (particularly bread) without adversely affecting the handling properties of the dough (an important factor in the context of commercial baking, where they are processed industrial quantities of dough) or the organoleptic qualities of the final product. It has been found that polydextrose, when added to dough mixtures, can retard hardening in baked goods, including bread. It has also been discovered that polydextrose can, in some contexts, improve certain properties of the handling of the dough and can also increase the bread volume. Polydextrose is a condensation polymer randomly linked to D-glucose with some bound sorbitol and a suitable acid (eg citric acid). It is odorless and has a slight bittersweet taste. Polydextrose is very soluble in water. It is known to have uses as a fat substitute, filler for foodstuffs, darkening agent, texturizer, humectant and thickener to be used in, for example, low calorie products. Such low-calorie products include nonfat biscuits, frozen desserts - - with low fat content, peanut butter with a reduced fat content and salad dressings without fat. It is believed that polydextrose does not contribute to dental cavities, does not cause significant gastrointestinal alterations and does not have a significant caloric potential. Polydextrose can typically melt at temperatures greater than 130 degrees Celsius. A typical 10 percent solution with water has a pH of about 2.5 to 3.5. The administration of the United State Food and Drug has approved polydextrose as a multi-purpose food ingredient for products such as desserts, frozen dairy products, baked goods and blends, jams and glazes, salad dressings, jellies, puddings and pie fillings, hard candy and soft candy and chewing gum. Polydextrose has also been approved by various regulatory bodies "from other nations for use as a food ingredient." LITESSE Enhanced Polydextrose FCC is a commercially available form of Polydextrose available from Cultor Food Science, which produces other forms of polydextrose. high water absorption capacity and thus increases the content of soluble carbohydrates.It is thought that the main effect of polydextrose to reduce the rate of hardening in baked products is to dilute the starch components, thus reducing the fractions of the starch available for crystallization The publication of the international patent No. WO 92/00012 describes a sweetened baked product composed of a sweetened cereal grain base and a grease mimetic system. The fat mimetic component includes polydextrose, cellulosic material, a non-fat dairy solid or a substitute, a emulsifying agent, a modified food starch and a thickening agent. The described sweetened baked products are chemically fermented. The U.S. Patent No. 4,678,672 describes crunchy cookies with low calorie content and processes for their preparation. The desired caloric reduction of at least 25% is obtained by reducing the flour content of the crunchy cookie dough and / or by replacing the fat / shortening with polydextrose. Mass compositions are exemplified which include an amount of polydextrose greater than 16% by weight based on the weight of the flour component. The U.S. Patent No. 4,042,714 discloses mealy compositions useful in the preparation of pasta and other foods containing flour. These - Low calorie compositions are prepared using modified polydextrose as a base material. As a result, the exemplified flour compositions contain more than 21% by weight of polydextrose, based on the weight of the flour in the composition. Emulsifiers such as glycerol monostearate are complex agents previously improved with amylase and starch amylopectin fractions. Maltogenic α-amylases are less sensitive to fluctuations in storage temperature. A combination of polydextrose, emulsifiers and maltogenic α-amylases in a dough mixture produces a baked product with a smooth crumb texture and a slower hardening speed. Furthermore, it has been discovered that a combination of polydextrose and fiber in a dough mixture can result in a synergistic effect, improving the dough handling properties and slowing down the rate of hardening in the baked product. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention overcomes in part the disadvantages of the known anti-hardening agents, providing a method for using polydextrose as an ingredient in baked goods. The use of polydextrose in combination with the baking masses, alone or in combination with certain emulsifiers and enzymes according to the present invention, provide improved anti-hardening properties and an improvement in bread crumb structure for breads and other baked goods. . These improved properties are generally achieved without an adverse effect on the organoleptic characteristics of the baked products. The dough made with the present invention demonstrates good handling properties and the baked product - final is equal in quality or better than baked control loaves without polydextrose. On the other hand, the gumminess that is normally associated with the use of enzymatic anti-hardening compositions is also eliminated or minimized by the enzyme dosages used according to the invention. For breads, the polydextrose is preferably added in the amount of between 1 percent to about 10 percent by weight of flour, with the added polydextrose being particularly preferred in an amount of between 2 percent to about 3 percent. In baked products fermented with yeast, polydextrose is also preferably added in the amount of between about 1 percent to about 10 percent by weight of flour, with polydextrose added in an amount of between 4 percent to about 10 percent being particularly preferred. One hundred percent for yeast-fermented and sweetened baked goods. Too much polydextrose results in a gummy mass, which can not be processed efficiently. The present invention can be used with commonly used dough preparation processes, such as the process for simple dough, the process for acid dough, the process for Chorleywood bread and the sponge and dough process. The method of the present invention can be used to make bread, as well as sweet baked goods such as cakes, muffins and pies. In one embodiment, polydextrose is used in combination with an emulsifier. Optionally, such an emulsifier may include glyceryl monostearate, mono-diglycerides, sodium stearyl lactylate and Datem. In another embodiment, the polydextrose is used in combination with an enzyme, or in combination with an enzyme and an emulsifier. Suitable enzymes may include bacterial and fungal amylases, pullulanase, amyloglucosidase, pentosanase, xylanase and maltogenic a-amylase. In yet another embodiment, polydextrose is used in combination with fiber. The combination of polydextrose and fiber shows some slnergistic results and produces a less gummy mass and firmness of mass and cohesion of the improved migajon. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The foregoing and other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent upon consideration of the following detailed description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like reference characters refer to like parts throughout and in which: Figure 1 is a graphical representation of the results of the hardness averages of the migajon taken from Example 1, which is discussed later in this specification. Figure 2 graphically illustrates the results of the hardness averages of the migajon taken from Example ^ 2, which is discussed later in this specification. Figure 3 is a graphical representation of the results of the hardness averages of the migajon taken from Example 2, which is discussed later in this specification. Figure 4 is a graphical representation of the hardening acceleration of the crumb taken from Example 2, which is discussed later in this specification. Figure 5 is a plot of the trend of the hardness averaging data of the migajon taken from Examples 2, which is discussed later in this specification. - Figure 6 is a representation of the effect of polydextrose on the hardness of the muffin taken from Example 3. DETAILED DESCRIPTION Example I: Comparison of Masses of Control to Masses Containing Polydextrose and Polydextrose in Combination, with Wheat Fiber A. Recipe of Control A control recipe was prepared using the following ingredients:% by weight of flour g / raezcla Flour 100.0 5000 Yeast (Compressed) 2.5 125 Salt 2.0 100 Water 58.2 2910 Grease (Ambrex, slip point c 45 ° C O) 1.0 50 Ascorbic acid (100 ppm) 0.01 0.5 Panodan '10' (90% ester Data) 0.33 16.5 Fungal alpha-amylase 80FU 0.66 A single batch of commercial bread flour was obtained and stored at room temperature until use. The properties of the flour were as follows: Humidity% (1.5 hours @ 130 ° C): 13.9 Protein%, Kjeldahl (nx 5.7) as it is: 11.8 Damaged starch (Farrand units): 42 Alpha-amylase (Farrand units): 12 Value of Color Classification: 2.0 Descending Number .- 338 Ascorbic acid (qualitative) test spots: Nothing Gluten added: Present B. Masses Containing Polydextrose Masses containing all the ingredients of the control mass were prepared, as well as the following: Mass No. 1: Contained 200 ppm of erythorbic acid, 3% (by weight) of polydextrose (LITESSE) and 2 % (by weight) of wheat fiber. Mass No. 2: Contained ascorbic acid, 3% (by weight) of polydextrose (LITESSE) and 2% (by weight) of wheat fiber. Mass No. 3: Contained ascorbic acid and 3% (by weight) polydextrose (LITESSE). ~~ C. Mixing and Processing of the Dough All doughs were based on a flour concentration of 5 kg and were produced using the "Chorleywood Bread Process". The mixing took place in a standard high speed mixing machine at atmospheric pressure, without applying vacuum. The speed of the mixer was set at 300 revolutions / minute and the operating energy was controlled at 11 Watt Hour per kg of mass (Wh / kg). The temperature of the dough was controlled at 30.5 ± 1 ° C by adjusting the water temperature. All the test masses were made in duplicate and the order of mixing was randomized. The processing was carried out with the following regime: Mixing machine: Tweedy 35 Operating energy: 11 Wh / kg Pressure: Atmospheric Temperature of the dough: 30.5 ± 1 ° C Heavy: By hand at 908 g First molding: In a ball using a conical moulder First check: 6 minutes a ambient temperature Final molding: Four pieces, (R9, W15.5, P0.25) Tray size: Top 250 mm x 122 mm, depth 125 mm Shape: With lid Test conditions: 43 ° C, humidity for avoid the desired desirability or Height of test: 11 cm Baking temperature: 244 ° C - - Oven type: Direct heated gas coil Baking time: 30 minutes Baking humidity: No steam was injected Cooling: Grid open at room temperature Storage: Cupboard closed all night at 21 ° CD Results - Hardening speed for masses Nos. 1, 2, 3 and a control mass (mass No. 4) are shown below in Table 1. _ In general, breads using polydextrose-containing masses (LITESSE) exhibited a slower curing rate than the control bread. The masses containing polydextrose (LITESSE) exhibited more gumminess than the control mass. The combination of fiber and polydextrose (LITESSE) (masses No. 1 and 2) exhibited an anti-hardening effect and also produced a decrease in the gumminess of the mass: positive synergies were observed in the combination of polydextrose and fiber with respect to the Hardness of the dough and the cohesion of the crumb. Table 1 gives the average values for the hardness of the crumb and the percentage of change of the values after five and seven days of storage respectively: Table 1 Mass Hardness (N)% of Change D5 D7 D5 D7 1 535.2 801.0 129.0 242.7 2 299.0 474.1 73.9 175.8 3 336.7 516.5 91.3 193.5 4 265.4 409.8 147.1 281.6 To estimate the hardness of the loaves, a Texture Profile Analysis was used to monitor the degree of hardening of the bread during storage. The tests were performed on a Stable Micro Systems Texture Analyzer under the following conditions: Option: TPA Force Units: Grams Format distance: mm Pre-test speed: 2.0 mm / sec Test speed: 2.0 mm / sec Post-test speed: 10.0 mm / sec Distance: 7.0 mm Time: 0.50 sec Activator type: Auto Activator force: 5 g Data Acquisition Speed: 200 pps Two cylindrical cores of 4 cm in diameter and 2 cm in height were removed from standard positions of the loaf crumb. Two loaves per day were used. The core samples were weighed and then subjected to two consecutive compressions to provide a free distance curve. To determine the changes in bread hardening, the measured hardness value was taken and corrected for the density of the bread core. The hardness is described as the force necessary to obtain a given deformation. On a practical level, this is representative of the force required to compress the food between the molar teeth.

E-example 2: Use of Polydextrose in White Bread BAKE BREADING In this example, hard wheat wheat flours were used with three different types of gluten: strong wheat flour (SWF) - medium strong wheat flour (MSWF) flour medium strong buckwheat (gluten deficient) (MSBWF) Flours were supplied by CIMMYT (International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center).

The bread was baked in this example under the following standardized conditions. White single mass breads were produced according to the approved methods of AACC 10-10 with the following changes in the fermentation times as well as in the formulation: Total fermentation time: 150 minutes first punching of the dough after 80 minutes second punching of the dough after 45 minutes molding after an additional 25 minutes Formula: Ingredient Base Flour flour, 14% moisture base 100 g - vegetable shortening 3 g whole milk powder 3 g yeast suspension 25 my salt solution - sugar 25 ml The water absorption was determined using the protein content of the flour. This was modified according to the operator's criterion of the consistency of the dough. At the beginning, the mixing time was determined by the mixing time in the mixograph. After the mixing time was modified according to the operator's criteria of the structure and consistency of the dough. Lower values indicate a greater tolerance to overmixing. The angle between the ascending and descending portions of the curve at the peak provides information about the tolerance index. Higher values indicate a greater tolerance to overmixing. The ascending portion was used in 0.5 minutes after the start of mixing and the descending portion in 2 minutes after the peak height. Hardness of the Miaaión del Pan The Instron Universal Testing Machine was used to measure the hardness of the migajón. The hardness was measured according to the force required to produce a constant deformation in the sample. The instrument is a widely used instrument that uses the parallel plate geometry to apply uniaxial compression to a bread crumb sample. A 50% compression was used. A range of 5 was used. A 2.5 cm sample was used. The method used was that according to the procedure of Baker et al. Baker A.E., Duerry, W.T., Kemp, K. Instron factors involved in the measurement of the hardness of the migajon (Instron Factors involved in measuring crumb firmness), Cereal Foods World 31 (2) 193-195. The peak height of the first compression is a measure of the hardness of the crumb and this is measured in kg of force. For each evaluation, the loaf of bread was cut into 4 slices, one for each day of measurement. The edges were preserved and each loaf was placed in a sealed plastic bag. This was done to approximate the storage condition of the consumer. The hardness profile was found by relating the storage periods with the force required for the compression of the crumb (regression coefficients). The average of two repetitions was used to obtain a hardness graph against days of storage. Linear regression was obtained for each graph. The slope of each curve was used as the daily increase of hardness of the migajón or the kinetics of the deterioration of the quality of the migajón. Each data was multiplied by 1000 so that the MSTAT computer program did not convert the small numbers to zero. Thus, the measurements were in grams force, instead of kg force. Results The loaves were baked according to the procedures described above; a control mass was prepared (without adding polydextrose) and masses with polydextrose concentrations at 1%, 2%, 3%, 4% and 5% by weight. The polydextrose used was LITESSE polydextrose improved. The loaves were baked with three types of gluten flour (SWF, MSWF and MSBWF). Acceleration of Hardening of Bread Migajon The analysis of variance for hardening kinetics of crumb is presented below in Table II. Table II. Analysis of the Variance for the Acceleration of Migajón Hardening The averages of the hardening of the crumb during the different days of storage, for the three flours with the 6 addition concentrations, are presented in Figures 1, 2 and 3, respectively. The acceleration of the hardening of the crumb is shown in Figure 4, as well as the trend of the data in Figure 5. The hardening values increased with the variation in the unit of time, as shown in Figures 1, 2 and 3. A decrease in hardening of the crumb can be observed with the increase in the concentration of polydextrose (LITESSE) and in relation to the controls, in each day. The effect of polydextrose on the acceleration of the hardening of the crumb demonstrates that when the concentration is increased, a decrease in kinetics is obtained. The hardening of the bread is an important criterion for the consumer and the characteristics of the hardening of the crumb are, in fact, an important component of the bread freshness. The measurement of the rheological properties of bread crumbs is closely related to the hardening evaluation and the general quality control of the crumb. In general, the data show that the presence of polydextrose is a positive factor in the control of bread hardening. This effect can be associated with the high hygroscopicity of polydextrose. Example 3; Polydextrose Added to Muffins Muffins were baked using the following recipe: - MUFFIN FORMULA Polydextrose was added to this recipe in concentrations of 1%, 3% and 5% (by weight) and the properties of the baked muffins were analyzed. Elasticity was measured (the distance recovered by the food (height) during the time between the end of the first bite and the start of the second bite), the hardness (the weight of the maximum force on the first compression cycles), the gumminess (energy required to chew a semi-solid food until a state ready to swallow) and chewiness (elasticity of gumminess times, ie the period of time of a number of chews required to chew a solid food until a ready state to swallow it). The analysis showed that the presence of polydextrose improved the elasticity of the muffin (that is, a better recovery of the structure), an improved muffin chewiness (ie decreased chewiness), an improved muffin gumminity (i.e., a gumminess) reduced by making the muffin easier to chew and swallow) and improved muffin hardness (ie, decreased hardness compared to control and increased softness of the muffin) compared to control muffins without polydextrose. The results indicate that the polydextrose has an anti-hardening effect that would prolong the shelf life of the muffins. Table III: Effect of Polydextrose on Elasticity% Polydextrose Average Elasticity 0% -1,995 1% -2,391 3% -1,942 5% -1,943 Table IV: Effect of Polydextrose on Chewableness % Polydextrose Masticability Average 0% 55.84 1% 51.408 3% 42.604 5% 35.02 - Table V: Effect of Polydextrose on Gummity% Polydextrose Gummies Average 0% 77,495 1% 74,164 3% 60,985 5% 49,972 Figure 6 shows the effect of polydextrose on the hardness of the muffin. Thus, it is noted that a method is provided to improve the anti-hardening properties of baked goods. One skilled in the art will appreciate that the present invention can be practiced by other than a • < r the preferred modalities, which have been presented for purposes of illustration and not limitation and the present invention is limited only by the claims that follow.

Claims (22)

1. NOVELTY OF THE INVENTION Having described the present invention, it is considered as a novelty and therefore the property described in the following claims is claimed as property. A method for making a baked product having improved anti-hardening properties, including the steps of: forming a baking dough from ingredients including flour, yeast, an anti-hardening agent and water; and baking the dough to produce the baked product; characterized in that the baking dough includes from about 1 percent to about 10 weight percent of a polydextrose antistaking agent, based on the weight of the flour. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that the baked product is a bread. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that the baked product is a sweet baked product and sweeteners or sweetening agents are combined with the ingredients of the dough in the baking dough forming step. The method according to claim 3, characterized in that the polydextrose anti-settling agent is included in an amount of from about 4 percent to about 10 percent by weight. percent in weight, based on the weight of the flour. The method according to claim 3, characterized in that the anti-hardening agent of polydextrose is included in an amount of from about 4 percent to about 6 percent by weight, by weight based on the weight of the flour. The method according to any of claims 3-5, characterized in that the sweeteners or sweetening agents include one or more intense sweeteners. 7. A method for making a baked bread product having improved anti-hardening properties, including the steps of: forming a bread dough from ingredients including flour, a fermentation agent, an anti-hardening agent and water, - and bake the bread dough to produce the baked bread product; characterized in that the bread dough includes from about 1 percent to about 10 percent by weight of a polydextrose anti-hardening agent, based on the weight of the flour. The method according to any of claims 1-2 and 7, characterized in that the dough additionally includes a fiber. The method according to any of claims 1-2 and 7, characterized in that the dough - includes from about 1 percent to about 5 weight percent of a polydextrose anti-hardening agent based on the weight of the flour. The method according to any of claims 1-2 and 7, characterized in that the dough includes from about 2 percent to about 3 weight percent of a polydextrose anti-hardening agent based on the weight of the flour. The method according to any of claims 1-2 and 7, characterized in that the dough includes from about 2 percent to about 4 percent by weight of a polydextrose anti-hardening agent based on the weight of the flour. The method according to any of claims 2 and 7, characterized in that the bread baking dough is prepared by means of a process for simple dough. The method according to any of claims 2 and 7, characterized in that the bread baking dough is prepared by means of a process for acid dough. 14. The method according to any of the - claims 2 and 7, characterized in that the bread baking dough is prepared by means of a Chorleywood bread process. The method according to any of claims 2 and 7, characterized in that the bread baking dough is prepared by means of the sponge and dough process. 16. The method according to any of claims 1-5 and 7, characterized in that the dough additionally includes a second anti-hardening agent selected from glycerol monostearate., mono-diglycerides, sodium stearyl lactylate and Datem. The method according to claim 16, characterized in that the second anti-hardening agent includes glycerol monostearate. The method according to claim 17, characterized in that the glycerol monostearate is included in the dough in an amount of about 1 percent by weight, based on the weight of the flour. The method according to any of claims 1-5 and 7, characterized in that the dough additionally includes one or more enzymes with anti-hardening properties. The method according to claim 19, characterized in that one or more enzymes are selected from - amylase, pullulanase, amyloglucosidase, pentosanase, xylanase and maltogenic α-amylase. 21. A baked product characterized in that it is made by the method of any of claims 1-5 and 7. 22. The use of polydextrose in a flour-based dough composition in an amount from about 1 percent to about 10 percent. one hundred weight, based on the weight of the flour, characterized in that it improves the anti-hardening properties of a baked product prepared from the flour-based dough composition.