Effect of selenium, sonication, and combination of selenium and sonication treatments on potassium bromate, alloxan, and titanium dioxide in bread

Improvers such as potassium bromate, titanium dioxide, and bleaching agents are used in breadmaking despite existing bans. This research aimed to detect potassium bromate, alloxan (a by-product of bleaching agents), and titanium dioxide in bread samples from local automated and traditional bakeries. Bread samples prepared from local durum wheat flour underwent treatments (sonication, selenium, and selenium with sonication). X-ray Fluorescence (XRF) did not detect titanium dioxide, while potassium bromide (a reduced form of potassium bromate) was detected in all samples. UV–visible spectroscopy detected alloxan in 37.5 % of bakeries. Among all treatments, selenium and sonication effectively reduced potassium bromide, alloxan, and titanium dioxide concentrations in spiked (10,000 μg/g) bread samples. Dynamic Light Scattering (DLS) showed particle sizes over 100 nm in all treated samples, and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) revealed the surface morphology structure of rough, flaky surfaces with compact particles for all treated prepared, and spiked samples, indicating no nanoparticle formation.