Staling of bread is one of the main problems in the field of Food pres
ervation. Research work was carried out to assess the influence of atm
osphere modification used for packing bread slices using nitrogen:carb
on dioxide at different ratios (50:50; 0:100) and ethanol vapour. The
staling process occurred after twenty days of storage time at room tem
perature was assessed by rheological properties measured using an Inst
ron Universal Testing Machine and by determination of gelatinization d
egree with starch/iodine colourimetric measurements. Kinetics of water
content changes during storage were also determined. Results showed a
relevant decrease of gelatinization degree during storage after fifte
en days for all samples. Modified atmosphere packaging appeared to be
effective to slow-down the bread hardening of samples packed in atmosp
heres containing air with a small amount of ethanol vapour and 100% CO
2.