Baking

Bread baking is one of the most common food processing techniques throughout the world although the bread products of different countries vary in their finished form.

Wheat flour has naturally occurring enzymes that modify the starch, protein and fibre fraction of the flour when water is added to make the dough. Added yeast also ferments maltose and other sugars during the 'proving' stage to produce carbon dioxide which makes the bread rise. The bread making process is an ancient form of fermentation by a combination of enzymes from yeast and wheat, followed by baking. The whole process converts wheat from a difficult-to-digest material to the 'staff of life'.

In a large bread making operation, the quality of wheat flour varies as a result of natural variation, time of year, inconsistencies in milling or changes in the wheat during storage. In order to produce consistent products for consumers and to make operations more efficient, enzymes are used as supplements in the bread making process. These include xylanase, α-amylase, protease, glucose oxidase and lipase. These are blended into the dry flour and (like the wheat enzymes) are activated when the water is added to make the dough. These supplements enable better handling of dough, and control of characteristics in the finished bread such as taste, loaf volume, crumb texture, and anti-staling properties. Gradually these are replacing other chemical improvers. A feature of baking enzymes is that they are usually required to be thermo-labile. This means they are denatured to inactive protein during the baking process.

The interactions between enzymes on the various components of bread dough is a very complex subject and the wrong enzyme cocktail or even the wrong application rate can result in detrimental effects on either the dough or the finished bread. For example, too much enzyme usually results in a loss of structure, resulting in bread that does not rise properly or that will cause problems in bakery machinery because it is too sticky.

ESC has many years experience in the baking sector. Contact us for all your requirements including:

• Enzyme activity analysis for quality control
• New product development
• Enzyme stabilisation
• Raw material analysis such as starch damage
• Process optimisation
• Finished product analysis