STABILITY AND CONTRIBUTION OF BETA-CAROTENE ADDED TO WHOLE WHEAT BREAD AND CRACKERS

Whole wheat bread and crackers were fortified with beta carotene using three pure (all-trans) sources: one water-soluble and two oil-soluble . Two sources contained added antioxidants. Carotene in both bakery pr oducts was highly stable during the prebaking steps and also during th e typical market shelf life of the products. However, carotene losses were appreciable during baking, ranging from 4-15% for bread products to 18-33% for crackers. Beta carotene sources with added antioxidants generally exhibited greater carotene stability, but only during baking and not during product storage. Baking caused a steric shift in carot ene, with cis isomers averaging similar to 18% in bread products and s imilar to 34% in crackers. A serving of each product would provide ove r 500 IU of vitamin A activity (can be labeled a ''good source'' of vi tamin A) and nearly 0.4 mg of carotene.