Home > Industry News > Keeping Arabic Flat Breads Fresh with POWERFLEX and POWERFRESH Enzymes (DuPont)
However Arabic bread manufacturers often face challenges to keep breads fresh for more than 2 days as they do not contain any preservative or anti-staling ingredients which would increase the cost of this price sensitive product.
However, freshness and taste will always be king for consumers and the demand for convenience is driving the need for longer-shelf-life solutions. This presents an opportunity for industrial manufacturers to capitalize on market share which was primarily dominated by artisan bakers in the past who produce short shelf-life products.
To achieve success with such a solution, industrial manufacturers needed a recipe which increases shelf life without increasing the costs or by adding chemical ingredients to this basic natural food. At the same time, ingredients manufacturers needed to grasp a deep understanding of the mechanisms which cause flatbreads to lose freshness and become stale.
The enzyme blend was designed to maintain flatbread softness and freshness for up to four days. A sensory evaluation found that the enzyme blend improved freshness, moistness, foldability and overall liking with a minimal impact on cost due to the low dosage.
The basis for this work is an understanding of the mechanisms that cause flatbreads to lose freshness and become stale. One of the most widely accepted theories concerns starch retrogradation in wheat flour. Starch accounts for 70% of flour content, comprising the polysaccharides amylopectin and amylose in a ratio of 3:1. Immediately after baking, the amylopectin starts to form a crystalline, rigid structure. This structure then also forms associations with amylose. For consumers, the noticeable effect of this process is that the bread crumb becomes gradually firmer and more crumbly.
The action patterns of various amylases proved particularly effective in starch modification. Endo-amylases such as fungal and bacterial α-amylases, primarily hydrolyze starch at random within the amylose and amylopectin molecules. Exo-amylases, which include G4 and maltogenic amylase, act on the non-reducing ends of the starch molecules, cutting off maltotetraose
(G4 glucose oligomers) or maltose, respectively. This process delays the recrystallization of amylopectin and consequently the staling of the bread.
The production of convenient flatbreads that break the previous one-day limit on shelf life is a commercially viable possibility. The availability of these powerful enzymes allows industrial manufacturers to enter the previous artisan stronghold of flatbread production. Product freshness will always be critical to consumers, no matter how busy their lifestyles become. Through the use of a tailored enzyme blend, manufacturers can now roll freshness, convenience and a low price into one appealing flatbread. Fresh and longer-life flat bread.
Please contact us for more details on these solutions. Our technical experts will be happy to assist you further in the application support of this cost effective, clean label and longer shelf-life solution for your traditional Arabic breads and other flat breads.
