Pizza dough differentiation by principal component analysis of alveographic, microbiological, and chemical parameters

We contrast two types of pizza dough produced in Naples. One was prepared in accordance with pizza dough regulations drawn up by the Ente Nazionale Italiano di Unificazione (UNI). Different pizza doughs were studied using a set of parameters linked to mechanical, microbiological, and chemical properties. The pizza doughs were analyzed by alveographic tests following Approved Methods of AACC International. In particular, alveographic values of parameters Delta P-max, V-r, Delta P-max/V-r, E-r1, E-r2, E-rT, as well as the nondimensional ratios E-r1/E-rT and E-r2/E-rT were obtained. Microbial counts of bacteria and yeast were determined and the bacteria-to-yeast ratio was also calculated. Total titratable acidity (TTA) and pH were determined by standard methods. Principal component analysis (PCA) applied to some technological parameters (V-r, E-r1, E-r1/E-rT, bacteria-to-yeast ratios, pH, and TTA), preliminarily selected on the basis of the variance explained by the components, allowed us to discriminate typical pizza dough of Naples from the other types considered in the study, demonstrating that PCA could help recognize different types of pizza dough. Hence, this method could be used to reduce the empirical component of the pizza-making process to produce pizza dough with standardized quality.