# The Effect of Carob Extract on Antioxidant, Antimicrobial and Sensory Properties of Bread
## 3 Results and Discussion
### Sensory Analysis  
Although we have proven that the addition of CP has numerous benefits in bread, if this addition negatively affects the sensory characteristics, it will not be accepted by consumers. Therefore, sensory analysis is a very important part of new product development. Figure 4 shows the structure of the bread samples, while the mean values of the attribute ratings for each bread sample are shown in Figure 5. As can be seen, the shape of all bread samples was regular, the crust colour was uniform, and samples with a higher amount of CP were slightly darker, but this did not prompt the panellists to give negative marks for the crust colour. The crust of all samples was thin and even, without cracks or holes. The colour and porosity of the crumb were relatively consistent, with some samples showing the presence of water rings, which may be a result of manual shaping. The crust colour was rated high for all samples, and the raters commented that the colour of the samples with the addition of CP reminded them of the colour of \"healthy\" types of bread that can be found on the market. The addition of CP positively influenced the aroma and taste of the bread. Taste and aroma were judged to be pleasant by the panel, with a noticeable characteristic carob sccent and a slightly sweet taste.  
The addition of the extrudate had a slightly more negative effect only on the structure of the bread crumb, due to an increase in hardness and a decrease in elasticity with an increase in the amount of CP, which is in accordance with the instrumental measurements on the texturometer. This entails a slight reduction in the volume of the loaf. However, this impact was not so significant as to cause unacceptability by the assessors, as can be seen from the results for general acceptability. [PERSON] et al. [52] showed that the addition of different extracts had no great effect on the volume of bread if maltodextrin was used as a carrier because of a positive effect of the addition of malto  
\begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{l l l l l} \hline \hline
**Sample** & **Hardness (N)** & **Chewiness (N)** & **Cohesiveness** & **Springiness** \\ \hline
**Control** & 10.87 \(\pm\) 0.36 \({}^{\text{a}}\) & 4.18 \(\pm\) 0.14 \({}^{\text{a}}\) & 0.68 \(\pm\) 0.01 \({}^{\text{a}}\) & 0.91 \(\pm\) 0.05 \({}^{\text{a}}\) \\
**E0.5\%** & 11.01 \(\pm\) 0.17 \({}^{\text{a}}\) & 4.55 \(\pm\) 0.22 \({}^{\text{b}}\) & 0.69 \(\pm\) 0.02 \({}^{\text{a}}\) & 0.88 \(\pm\) 0.01 \({}^{\text{a}}\) \\
**E1.5\%** & 11.94 \(\pm\) 0.31 \({}^{\text{b}}\) & 4.87 \(\pm\) 0.11 \({}^{\text{b}}\) & 0.67 \(\pm\) 0.01 \({}^{\text{a}}\) & 0.82 \(\pm\) 0.03 \({}^{\text{b}}\) \\
**E2.5\%** & 12.39 \(\pm\) 0.43 \({}^{\text{b}}\) & 5.10 \(\pm\) 0.27 \({}^{\text{c}}\) & 0.65 \(\pm\) 0.03 \({}^{\text{a}}\) & 0.74 \(\pm\) 0.02 \({}^{\text{c}}\) \\
**E3.5\%** & 12.44 \(\pm\) 0.36 \({}^{\text{b}}\) & 5.09 \(\pm\) 0.21 \({}^{\text{c}}\) & 0.66 \(\pm\) 0.02 \({}^{\text{a}}\) & 0.70 \(\pm\) 0.01 \({}^{\text{c}}\) \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}  
* Results are expressed as mean \(\pm\) SD (n = 5); \({}^{\text{a}}\)+ values in the same column mean that there are no significant differences between mean values at \(p<0.05\) (Duncan test).  
\end{table}
Table 4: Textural properties of bread samples.  
bread [53], although polyphenic compounds can inhibit the activity of yeast and reduce bread volume [54], which may be the reason for the slight decrease in volume in our study. The results definitively indicate that the addition of up to 3.5% CP has no negative impact on the sensory quality of the bread. It is also evident that the selected range of extract amounts in the experimental plan was not wide enough to closely identify differences in bread quality resulting from variations in the amount of added CP. It is assumed that from a sensory standpoint, CP could be added to bread in larger quantities, although the upper limit of its application should be defined.