QUALITY IMPROVEMENT FOR THE PRODUCT GINGERBREAD, CORELATIONS BETWEEN THE PRODUCT’S PHYSICAL AND CHEMICAL PROPERTIES AND THE RHEOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF DOUGHS.

Quality management reflects on the product gingerbread by applying the Customer Orientation and the Continuous Improvement principles, also by analysing and developing the product in terms of the influence exerted by the various quantities of ingredients and the use of dough maturation.The presented study made corelations between the physical and chemical parameters of the finished products and the rheological characteristics of doughs. Dough with varying wheat and rye flour ratios were made, being left to mature for 30 and respectively 150 minutes. Corelations were made between the specific volume of the product and the rheological characteristics of the doughs. The dough’s consistency measured with the farinograph after 10 minutes of mixing and the widening percentage of the gingerbread in the baking process were corelated. The variation of the dough’s volume during maturation was studied after 30 minutes of maturation, respectively 150 minutes of maturation. The results obtain inform with regard to the influence that the rye flour ratio has on the distortion of the product during baking, on the consistency of the dough and on the specific volume. Key words: gingerbread, rheological characteristics of the dough, physical and chemical parameters, quality indicators [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]