Baking&Snack - March 2013 - 78

ENZYMES

director, Enzyme Development
Corp., New York. “Standards of
product quality and cleaner labeling are rising,” he said, adding, “The
growth of whole grain varieties has
also resulted in escalating use of
enzymes to counter the technical
challenges of those ingredients.”
Different enzymes — even those
in the same class — do different
things for bakery formulations. Ms.
Rees explained, “Enzymes can have
different side activities. We’ve catalogued the behavior of hundreds of
enzymes in each class.”
Here’s an example of how enzymes addressed specific issues,
with bakers reaping extra benefits
along the way. “We created a blend
of enzymes for a large national
hamburger franchise,” Mr. MullerThym related. “We initially set out
to help replace vital wheat gluten
and sodium stearoyl lactylate due
to cost and labeling; however, after the bake testing trials, the customer discovered that this blend of
enzymes actually gave a more resilCakes represent the newest applications for emulsifiers where they aid
texture development and shelf life.

ient bun and added volume, which
helped during distribution and
shipping across the country.”
Additional R&D work proved
that the enzyme system could replace other commonly used texturizing agents such as calcium stearoly lactylate and diacetyl tartaric
acid esters of mono- and diglycerides (DATEM). “Our customers
are very happy about this because
the word enzyme is much more
label-friendly,” Mr. Muller-Thyme
explained. “So, the consumers get a
label they can understand, while the
bakery saves at the bowl and reduces
waste that was caused by damage
during transportation.”

Diverse but specific uses
What makes enzymes interesting
is how their use varies by application and desired function, with each
enzyme type functioning best at its
own pH and temperature range.
“Faster and better” aspects rely on
these conditions along with time
and enzyme concentration.
Mother Nature designed them
this way. “Plants, animals and
microorganisms all produce en-

zymes,” Mr. van Eijk said. “They
are responsible for various life processes, yet enzymes are not living
organisms themselves.”
Enzymes catalyze biochemical
reactions by bringing reactants together, rather than relying on the
natural pace of a chance meeting of
molecules. Once the desired reaction takes place, the altered complex
releases the enzyme unchanged, and
it moves along to the next set of reactants to do its magic. The enzyme
continues to function in this manner
until it is deactivated, or denatured.
Typically, enzymes shut down after
exposure to heat, as in baking, or
when a forced chemical alteration
such as a change in pH occurs.
Today, the primary reason bakers
use enzymes is to foster longer shelf
life. “The most successful and almost indispensable use of enzymes
in baked foods is for maintaining
softness and freshness,” Mr. Boutte
said. “This is accomplished mainly
by using specific amylases that alter
the starch, resulting in a form that
resists staling.
“However, we also use phospholipases to achieve some anti-staling

DSM Food Specialties USA

What enzyme does what?
Enzymes perform highly specific tasks. Scientists sort them
by their functions and so do bakers.
“The most commonly used baking enzymes are
amylases, proteases, xylanases and lipases, explained
”
Jan van Eijk, research director, baking ingredients,
Lallemand, Montreal.
Amylases modify starch to assist with crust color, loaf
volume, crumb softness and shelf life extension.
Proteases act on proteins to enable dough relaxation and
mix-time reduction.
Xylanases, also known as hemicullases and pentosanases,
improve loaf volume and crumb structure.
Lipases affect lipids and can functionally replace chemically derived emulsifiers.
Individual members of these classes can vary widely in
their actions, but Mr. van Eijk explained, “Most commercial
enzymes are produced from microorganisms and standardized for specific activities.
”

/ Baking & Snack / March 2013

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Baking&Snack - March 2013

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