Application of fuzzy logic system for the pizza production processing optimisation

The main problem of industrial pizza production is process standardisation. This study focused on the individuation of single and interactive effects of processing variables that strongly influenced pizza's quality and aimed to propose a possible optimisation/standardisation of the production method through the fuzzy logic system. The decision tree derived from fuzzy inference and related to sensory properties of pizza highlighted the importance of oven ceiling temperature and dough hydration level to improve and standardise pizza quality made up with flour with poor quality. In particular, samples with low dough hydration levels (44%) and baked at medium oven ceiling temperature (350 °C) was the most appreciated by panellist (overall judgment >7). The validation on a wide scale of the algorithm used in this research could be helpful to design an easy-to-use application for both industrial and artisanal pizza production through management software or smartphones.