Baking & Snack - March 2023 - 44

ENZYMES
specialist. " At certain levels, replacement of vital wheat
gluten with enzymes provides excellent results, often
better than vital wheat gluten alone at a better price and
with no problems with sourcing. "
Enzymes can act as oxidizing and stabilizing agents
when blended in the right amounts, Mr. Ruesser said.
" These blends provide structure, oven spring, dough
machinability and tolerance to rough processing conditions
that the baker can rely less on gluten and emulsifiers
in products like breads, " he said. " Emulsifiers do still
reign supreme in areas like cakes. "
Enzyme dependence has increased in the past few
years for several reasons, including the pandemic, consumer
desire for clean label and the fact they are viable,
consistent products, said EB Russell, business development
manager, Lesaffre.
BAKERS GENERALLY ONLY
NEED A TINY AMOUNT
OF ENZYMES IN A BAKED
GOOD FORMULATION.
" Enzyme applications have started to expand into
so many different product options, " she said. " As more
diverse enzymes enter the market, applications for use
have expanded. Bakers can now utilize enzyme blends
to help improve the gluten network, reduce floor time,
help relax the dough and make it easier to machine.
They can look at enzymes to help produce clean label
products, replace fat systems, replace DATEM,
help provide strength and lessen the use of vital
wheat gluten. "
Mr. Savino emphasized the improvements enzymes
have made in manufacturing capabilities, especially in
quality and waste management.
" One important area of enzyme application use over
the past couple of years has been around shelf life extension, "
he said. " As local and global supply chains are disrupted,
increased product shelf life eases manufacturers'
supply chain worries. "
Keeping it clean
Bakeries can use enzymes to help stabilize yeast fermentation
in low or no sugar added doughs like for
keto bread, which are challenging because eliminating
or reducing sugar means the yeast has no energy
to develop.
" When you're making a zero net carb or keto bread,
you're replacing the flour with resistant starch and
things like that, " explained Jacinthe Côté, PhD, pro44
Baking & Snack March 2023 / www.bakingbusiness.com
ENZYMES HAD A ROUGH
BEGINNING IN BAKERIES
Enzymes are proteins that facilitate chemical
reactions in living organisms, tissues
and technological systems such as the
baking process, explained Vernetta Dally,
scientific adviser to Maxx Performance.
" Enzymes are catalysts and, therefore,
speed up and change reactions without
themselves being changed, " she said.
" Enzymes are classified according to the
'substrate' with which the enzyme reacts.
Enzymes work with specific substrates
using a lock-and-key specificity that alters
the subject so that the reaction is favorable.
Once the reaction occurs, the enzyme
releases the product and moves on. "
When bread baking was industrialized,
the fermentation time was shortened,
so bakers had to turn to chemical solutions
like potassium bromate and ADA
(azodicarbonamide) to develop the gluten
network to make a good loaf of bread.
" These chemicals were acceptable in the
'50s, '60s, '70s, " explained Jacinthe Côté,
PhD, product manager, enzyme-based
solutions, Lallemand Baking. " People
were amazed at the technology involved
in manufacturing food, and it was great.
People weren't looking at the labels. In
the '90s and 2000s, people started paying
attention. "
The first tests of enzymes to replace
those solutions were not promising, causing
bakers to shy away from them.
Potassium bromate was the prime option
used as a dough conditioner but was
banned in many places when it was discovered
to have a carcinogenic chemical.
" Formulators at the time started using
basic enzymes like fungal amylase and
xylanase in combination with ascorbic acid
to replace the potassium bromate, " said
Luc Casavant, director, baking applications,
Lallemand Baking. " That's how it
started. Bakers were happy because before
they came in, they couldn't produce a
good loaf of bread. "
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