In the Dough - Lesaffre August 2018 - 4

Natural Mold Inhibitors
IF YOU'RE LOOKING TO CLEAN UP YOUR
I N G R E D I E N T L I S T, P R E S E R VAT I V E S A R E
A G O O D P L AC E TO TA K E T H E N E X T S T E P
TOWA R D C L E A N L A B E L

Mold inhibitors are critical
to the shelf life of a loaf of
bread. "Bakers have always
had a need for preservatives
to make sure their bread
stays fresh and mold-free,"
said Arnaud Deniaud,
director of technical
services and new product
development at Lesaffre.
Without preservatives, the
quality of a ﬁnished loaf
won't stand the test of time,
and it will end up as food
waste. A working mold
inhibition system will help
prevent this from happening
and give consumers the
shelf life and eating quality
they've come to expect from
commercially produced
bread.
An effective mold inhibition
system requires two things:
a sufficient amount of
an organic acid and a pH
low enough to make that
organic acid efficient. If the
pH is too low it can affect
dough rheology, but if it's
too high, the organic acid
won't be as effective. It's all
about striking a balance.
Calcium propionate has
consistently been the

go-to option for inhibiting
mold in baked goods for a
number of reasons. "Calcium
propionate has been a
preservative of choice for
many years," Mr. Deniaud
said. "It is very efficient and
inexpensive." However, when
added to a dough, calcium
propionate doesn't lower
the pH. It actually raises it
slightly.
When calcium propionate
is added to a dough, it
dissolves into propionic
acid, the often preferred
organic acid for bakers to
use in their formulations. At
a crumb pH of 5.5 only 19%
of the amount of calcium
propionate is in its active
form. Only a 0.5 drop
in pH to 5.0 will double
the efficiency of calcium
propionate. That's how
impactful pH levels can be
on a preservative.
Despite calcium
propionate's position as an
effective preservative for
baked goods, consumers
are demanding more and
more clean label ingredients.
Calcium propionate does
not meet that need. This

has bakers looking for more
label-friendly preservatives.
Lesaffre uses its experience
with fermentation to
produce natural mold
inhibitors as a part of its
Saf-pro line of ingredients.
These dry blended natural
mold inhibitors are made
from cultured wheat starch,
citric acid and enriched
wheat ﬂour. A combination
of good bacteria ferment
the wheat starch for several
days to produce a speciﬁc
composition of organic
acids, mostly propionic.
The citric acid is a natural
acidiﬁer produced by
fermentation. It lowers
the pH and increases the
efficiency of the cultured
wheat.
Lesaffre tests the
performances of all of its
natural mold inhibitors by
incoluating bread slices
and then incubating them
at 86°F and 90% relative
humidity. Mold growth is
measured every day by trans
illumination to determine
how well these clean label
ingredients are preventing
the mold.

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of In the Dough - Lesaffre August 2018

In the Dough - Lesaffre August 2018 - 1
In the Dough - Lesaffre August 2018 - 2
In the Dough - Lesaffre August 2018 - 3
In the Dough - Lesaffre August 2018 - 4
In the Dough - Lesaffre August 2018 - 5
In the Dough - Lesaffre August 2018 - 6
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