ALPHAZYMES
TRUSTED QUALITY
Category Information
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Extensibility: The ability of the dough to be stretched, extended, or elongated when forces, stress, and pressures are applied to it. A certain amount of extensibility is necessary for a dough to be molded into different shapes. An extensible dough has the ability to stretch (expand) as the gas pressure from yeast fermentation builds up.
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Elasticity: The ability of the dough to regain its original shape after a deforming force has been applied and removed. Simply put, it is the ability of the dough to spring back when it is stretched.
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Resistance to deformation (tenacity): The ability of the dough to resist deformation when being stretched. A dough with too much tenacity is difficult to work with during makeup. Laminated doughs that are too tenacious are often difficult to roll out.
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Stickiness: The ability of the dough to stick to the surfaces which they come into contact with. The dough needs to have minimum stickiness to be properly shaped and conveyed during the makeup stages. In most cases, dough stickiness is the least desired property given the operational and cleaning issues that a bakery has to deal with. The simplest way of modifying the stickiness of dough is by increasing or decreasing water absorption.
What is Shelf Life Extension?
Shelf life extension is an effort to make food safe for long periods, still keeping its original quality. Baked products beyond their shelf life can become:
Stale, firm, and dry
Less resilient
Not as flavorful
Unsafe due to microbial growth
Advances in bakery processing technologies and ingredient innovation have led to significant shelf-life extension. For example, bread and buns that traditionally lasted 6 or 10 days, now remain soft, springy, and mold-free for up to 3 weeks.
How does it work?
Two main factors influence the shelf life of bakery products:
Microbial spoilage: Product contamination with air-borne mold spores starts immediately after leaving the oven. As time passes, microbial growth continues to increase. Eventually, green spots form on the crust.
Staling and moisture loss from product: Bread staling can affect both bread crust and crumb. Crust staling is generally caused by moisture transfer or migration from the crumb to the crust. The result is a soft, leathery texture. On the other hand, crumb staling happens when hydrated starch reverts to the crystalline form.
Application
To extend the shelf life of products, different ingredients and processes can be used. Strategies depend on the end product, and if it is a clean label or not. Here are some solutions to slow both mold and staling.
Amylase is a hydrolytic enzyme that breaks down starch into dextrins and sugars. It’s made up of a family of starch-degrading enzymes that include:1
Alpha-amylase & Beta-amylase
Amyloglucosidase or glucoamylase
Pullulanase
Maltogenic amylase
Amylases can work at the same time in perfect synergy. They are key ingredients that extend the shelf-life of bread, working as fermentation improvers.1
Origin
Amylase is widely distributed in nature. It is present in both plants and animals. Cereal and grains and their flours naturally contain different types of amylase. In cereals, it is found in the endosperm, bran, and germ.
Commercial production
Amylase is generally produced by commercial fermentation. Bacterial sources such as Bacillus subtilis or B. stearothermophilus are used. Or, fungal sources, such as Aspergillus oryzae or A. niger.
Function
Amylases perform the following functions in bakery products:
Provide fermentable and reducing sugars.
Accelerate yeast fermentation and boost gassing for optimum dough expansion during proofing and baking
Intensify flavors and crust color by enhancing Maillard browning and caramelization reactions.
Reduce dough/batter viscosity during starch gelatinization in the oven.
Extend oven rise/spring and improve product volume.
Act as crumb softeners by inhibiting staling.
Modify dough handling properties by reducing stickiness.
Wheat starch is a carbohydrate found in wheat and is a common part of the human diet. Typical sources of starch for baking include wheat, corn, potatoes, or tapioca. It is a polysaccharide containing an abundance of glucose molecules. Whether in its original form or as one of its derivatives, starch has a variety of uses in the food and manufacturing industries.
Food starches are added to thicken or stabilize products such as puddings, soups, sauces, pie fillings, salad dressings, and in many baking applications.
Modified versions of starch are also frequently used in foods that have a low pH or cannot be heated.1
Origin
Starch comes from the Middle English word “stretched,” meaning “to stiffen,” yet the use of the carbohydrate can be traced back much further. There are some references to ancient Egyptians sticking papyrus together with a starch glue and Romans extracting starch from grain in 170 BC. The first recorded starch discovery was by French chemist Bouillon Lagrange in 1804. A few years later, Russian chemist, Gottlieb Kirchhoff found potato starch could produce sugar by acid hydrolysis, the first modified starch.
Through the 18th century, wheat was the primary source of starch. However, potatoes and maize soon grew in popularity as well. During the 1940s, an increase in dry and processed foods grew the modified starch industry. The FDA is responsible for regulating the amount and types of modification.1
Commercial Production
In commercial production, maize, potato, tapioca, wheat, rice, and arrowroot are sources of starch. The extraction method depends on the original plant or root being used. In the U.S., cereal grains are the most common source. of 2 ‘
To produce corn starch, kernels are cleaned and soaked in water to enlarge and soften them. They are then milled to crack the outer shells and then a separator frees the germ. The germ includes starch, fiber, and gluten. After a fine grinding and screening process, the fiber, starch, and gluten are processed in a centrifuge to spin out the thinner gluten. Wheat starch is made from hydrated flour; once the flour has been treated, the gluten matrix forms and the starch can be washed out. Potato, tapioca, and rice starch are produced by a similar hydrating and centrifuging process.
What are the common applications of emulsifiers in food?
Bread
It is possible to make bread without emulsifiers but the result is often dry, low in volume, and easily scales.2 As little as 0.5% emulsifier added to the dough is enough to achieve an enhanced volume, a softer crumb structure, and a longer shelf-life. There are two types of emulsifiers used in bread: dough strengtheners (e.g., diacetyl tartaric acid esters (E472e) and sodium or calcium stearoyl-2-lactylate (E481, E482)) and dough softeners (e.g., mono- and diglycerides of fatty acids (E471)). Dough-strengthening agents make the dough stronger and result in bread with an improved texture and volume. Dough-softening agents allow for obtaining a softer crumb structure and increased shelf-life.
Chocolate
All chocolate products contain 0.5% of lecithin (E322) or ammonium phosphatide (E442). These emulsifiers are added to provide the right consistency of the chocolate.1 As a result, the chocolate can be molded into plates of chocolate, chocolate bars, etc. If the chocolate has been stored at too high temperatures, its surface may appear dull or white. This is called ‘bloom’ which makes the product less attractive to the customer. Sorbitan tristearate (E492) can delay the development of bloom.1
Ice-cream
Ice cream is one of the most complex foods we encounter, containing ice crystals, air, fat particles, and an unfrozen aqueous mix.2 Emulsifiers are added during the freezing process, to promote a smoother texture and ensure the ice cream does not melt rapidly after serving. They also improve freeze-thaw stability. Mono and diglycerides of fatty acids (E471), lecithin (E322), and polysorbates (E432, E436) are commonly used in ice cream production. All this applies to other desserts such as sorbet, milkshakes, frozen mousse, and frozen yogurt as well.
Margarine
Emulsifiers give margarine the required stability, texture, and taste.2 To ensure that the water droplets are finely dispersed in the oil phase, mono and diglycerides of fatty acids (E471) and lecithin (E322) are widely used. Citric acid esters of mono and diglycerides:
Vitamins
vitamins help your body use the energy you get from food. It also helps the body to use protein in food to build new cells and tissues.
When you cook rice or pasta, some of the riboflavin goes into the water. When you rinse rice or pasta you rinse off some of this vitamin. So to keep the riboflavin you need from these foods, it is important not to rinse the rice or pasta after you have cooked it. When you cook vegetables, use only a small amount of water and keep the lid on the pan so that riboflavin and the other B vitamins are not lost. When you shop, look for bread, cereals, and other baked products that are "enriched" with B vitamins like riboflavin.