Home > Industry News > Bakery Ingredients Industry News > IFF-FSL Baking Enzymes for Softer, More Consistent & Longer-Lasting Baked Goods
Enzymes have been used longer than their chemical nature was discovered and their ability to catalyse reactions was recognised. The first completely enzymatic industrial process was developed in the year 1960. Starch processing, undertaken in two steps, involves liquefaction of the polysaccharide using bacterial α- mylase, followed by saccharification catalysed by fungal glucoamylase.
This complex reaction brings us the different enzymes that enhance and elevate the quality and experience of the baked goods we produce today. The development of the breading process was another significant event in human history.
An important aspect that contributed to the evolution of the bakery market was the introduction of industrial enzymes in the baking process. Technological developments allied to recombinant techniques during the last decades allowed for considerably improved yields by fermentation, increased stability and altered specificity and selectivity of enzymes. Those techniques thrust forward and continue to broaden the enzymes’ applications in food technology and many different areas.
In the first case, the enzymatic process is undertaken in optimised and controlled conditions to enhance the catalytic potential of the enzyme. In contrast, ensuring optimal conditions and controlling the enzymatic reaction in the second situation is more complex.
Even though based on cereals other than wheat, baked goods such as gluten-free products or rye bread are also considered baked products.
Bread is usually made from wheat flour as the raw material, a mixture of starch, gluten, lipids, non-starch polysaccharides and enzymes. After flour, yeast, and water are mixed, complex biochemical and biophysical processes begin, catalysed by the wheat enzymes and yeast characterising the dough phase. These processes occur in the baking stage, giving rise to bread.
Extra enzymes added to the dough improve control of the baking process, allowing the use of different baking processes, reducing process time, slowing-down staling, compensating for flour variability and substituting chemical additives.
The supplementation of flour and dough with enzyme improvers is a usual practice for flour standardization and as a baking aid. Enzymes are usually added to modify dough rheology, gas retention and crumb softness in bread manufacturing to modify dough rheology in the manufacture of pastry and biscuits, to change product softness in cake making and to reduce acrylamide formation in bakery products. The enzymes can be added individually or in complex mixtures, which may act synergistically in the production of baked goods, and their levels are usually very low.
Enzymes can help you gain a finer degree of control over the bakery process and make your baked goods fresher, softer, more consistent and longer- lasting – even when dealing with challenging flour quality.
IFF-FSL baking enzymes help keep baked goods fresher longer, reducing
food waste. They can also help improve flour performance and dough
stability throughout the process, leading to fewer products being
discarded in your production line.
We currently offer six products in our Baking Enzyme range. While their application areas might overlap, they have unique compositions and distinct benefit profiles.
Wondering what enzyme is a good fit for your requirements? Look at our offerings below:
