This research presented the procedural framework of developing and optimizing an artificial intelligence model for predicting the change of bread texture by different baking enhancers. Emphasis was placed on the impact of various baking enhancers on the Mixolab thermo-mechanical properties of wheat flour and consequent alterations in bread texture. The application of baking enhancers positively contributed to dough formation and stability, producing bread with a soft texture. However, a relatively low Pearson correlation coefficient was observed between a single Mixolab parameter and bread texture (r<0.59). To more accurately predict the texture of bread from the thermo-mechanical features of wheat flour with baking enhancers, five AI models (multiple linear regression, decision tree, stochastic gradient descent, random forest, and multilayer perceptron neural network) were applied, and their prediction performance was compared. The multilayer perceptron neural network model was further utilized to enhance the prediction of bread texture by mitigating overfitting risks. Finally, the hyperparameter tuning (activation function [Leaky ReLU], regularization [0.0001], and dropout [0.1]) led to enhanced model performance (R2 = 0.8109 and RMSE = 0.1096).

The physicochemical properties of the emulsions prepared with four different proteins (pea protein isolate, whey protein isolate, soy protein concentrate, and soy protein isolate) were characterized in terms of particle size, rheological property, and freeze-thaw stability, while the feasibility of the protein-stabilized emulsions as a fat replacer was evaluated. Confocal laser scanning microscopic analysis showed that O/W emulsions were successfully prepared with all the proteins; however, the smallest particle size and excellent syneresis were observed in the WPI-stabilized emulsions. The use of WPI-stabilized emulsions as an alternative for shortening up to 50% level did not lead to differences in the muffin batters’ specific gravity and viscoelastic properties. After baking, the substitution of shortening with the WPI emulsions at up to 50% by weight did not significantly affect the muffins’ specific volume and texture characteristics.