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Potato Bread Vs. White Bread: What’s The Difference?

Bread makes up an important part of our diet.

It could be eaten as a meal of the day or even as a snack. It is used for toasts or sandwiches.

Bread has been around since ancient times, and over time people have made various types of bread using different ingredients and preparing them through various means.

Essentially, bread is made from dough which is composed of a mixture of flour, water and several other ingredients. Dough is moulded into a desired shape and then baked to give a fine loaf of bread.

The flour used for making bread could also be of different types; there is bread flour, whole grain flour, potato flour and others.

All over the world, white bread which is bread made with bread flour or all purpose flour is one of the most popular types of bread eaten.

White bread is delicious, cheap and easy to make, but since it is high in carbs and low in other important nutrients including fibres, people have been switching to other alternatives.

Some examples of other popular types of bread include whole wheat bread, flax bread, oat bread, sourdough bread and potato bread.

Potato bread is made using potato flour or mashed potatoes together with some amount of wheat flour, and when compared to white bread, potato bread has been found to be richer in fibre, vitamins and several minerals.

In this post we are going to go through more of the differences between white bread and potato bread.

White bread vs. potato bread

How they are made

White bread is made using bread flour or all purpose flour, which are wheat flour that has been processed to remove portions of the wheat grain.

Potato breads could be made using varying proportions of wheat flour together with potato flour in them.  Some recipes of potato bread involve using mashed potatoes together with wheat flour.

Bread flour vs. potato flour

During the processing of wheat to produce bread flour, the nutrient rich bran and germ of the wheat kernel is removed, leaving behind the endosperm of the wheat kernel which is not as nutritious as the germ or bran but high in carbs.

This particular type of flour is simply referred to as bread flour or white flour which is different from whole wheat flour which is used to make brown bread.

Potato flour on the other hand is made from potatoes that have been dehydrated and ground into powdered form. Potatoes are rich in fibres and several other minerals and vitamins; hence potato flour is more nutritious than bread flour.

Nutrients

Vitamins and minerals are essential for various metabolic processes in the body

Because they have been stripped of the highly nutritious bran and germ during the processing of wheat to produce bread flour or all purpose flour, white bread is rich in nutrients such as fibers or vitamins, but instead, it is high in carbs.

Potatoes are rich in various nutrients. Potato flour has more fibers, vitamins and minerals compared to bread flour or all purpose four.

Therefore, when potato flour or mashed potatoes is combined to wheat flour to produce potato bread, it contains more nutrients than white bread.

The, potassium magnesium and calcium content of potato bread are more when compared to that of white bread. Potato bread also contains more vitamins B and C than white bread

Calories

White bread is known for being high in calories. Both potato bread and white bread may have similar calorie content. However, the calorie content of potato bread and white bread may have a slight difference depending on the proportion of potato and wheat bread used

Glycemic index

White bread is known to have a high glycemic index which is greater than 70. The glycemic index of potato bread is also high.

Gluten

White bread is made from white flour which contains gluten in large amount. However, since potato breads also have some portion of wheat, in them, they might not be gluten free also.

However, there are gluten free potato bread recipes which are made using potato flour alone. Check to see if the bread contains gluten before you consume.

Fiber

Fibre plays a vital role when it comes to digestive health of an individual.

Bread flour has little fibre content as the bran has been removed, and the endosperm contains less. In potato bread, the potatoes which are rich sources of fibre bring complements the fibre content, which in turn makes potato bread more nutritious in fibre when compared to white bread.

Texture

Potato bead has a texture similar to white bread.  Potato bread would look like wheat bread but as the proportion of potato added increases, the bread becomes thicker and slightly changes its colour. It could have a yellow tint as well as feel heavier that white bread.

Taste

The proportion of potato to wheat flour may vary depending on the recipe and this leads to different outcome.

Potato bread often has a mild potato flavor. White bread has a sweet taste, potato bread could also taste the same as well, but it often has a mild potato flavor.

Summary

  • White bread and potato bread are both popular types or breads than vary in their nutritional contents
  • White bread is made from wither bread flour or all purpose flour which are both gotten from wheat, however, potato bread is made using either potato flour or mashed potatoes.
  • Potato flour can be used solely or varying proportions of wheat to make potato bread
  • When it comes to their nutritional content, white bread has less fibers, vitamins and minerals than potato bread.
  • Processing wheat to produce wheat flour and all purpose flour strips it off a lot of its nutrient rich germ and bran leaving behind the endosperm which is high in carbs
  • Potatoes are rich in fibers as well as other nutrients. Potatoes are cooked, dried and ground to produce potato flour which is also nutrient rich. Their taste and texture may vary slightly.