Enzyme blends expand what can be achieved in bakery formulations

Source: Baking & Snack, Breads Source: Cain Foods — 05.18.2021By Charlotte Atchley

Enzymes offer a lot of functionality to bakers looking to improve their products in a label-friendly way. With a better understanding of the enzymes available, they have been able to replace many legacy ingredients that some consumers no longer deem acceptable.

”Generally, traditional solutions like potassium bromate and azodicarbonamide as oxidizing agents have gone away, replaced in functionality with glucose oxidase in combination with ascorbic acid,” said Troy Boutte, vice president of innovation, AB Mauri North America. “Likewise, DATEM and SSL are often replaced with either phospholipase individually or a combination of phospholipase and lecithin.

Enzymes are proteins that speed up chemical reactions occurring in a dough. They work on specific substrates in the formulation and are deactivated by heat or other chemical changes in the formulation.

“Because enzymes can modify different components of the dough — starch, proteins or lipids — they can be used to improve loaf volume, crumb structure, dough stability, tolerance, taste and flavor, and crumb softness,” said Luc Casavant, application director, Lallemand Baking. “They can be added in formulations as single enzymes or as enzyme blends to optimize their activity or create synergies between enzymes.”

Working with multiple enzymes to improve multiple aspects requires a holistic approach. By looking at the entire formula and how enzymes are working together and with other ingredients, bakers can optimize performance.

This article is an excerpt from the May 2021 issue of Baking & Snack. To read the entire feature on enzymes, click here.