Sweet goods are the latest to benefit from use of enzymes that help clean up product labels. Of course, enzymes are important to bread, tortillas and similar baked foods as well. Baking & Snack talked to Kathy Sargent, project manager, R&D, Corbion Caravan, Lenexa, KS, about these applications and more in exclusive Q&A on the subject of bakery enzymes.

Baking & Snack: What are the most underutilized enzymes that have potential to improve baked products? What should formulators know about these to make best use of them?

Kathy Sargent: One area where enzymes have not traditionally been applied is to sweet baked goods. Enzyme solutions that worked very well in bread applications were not suited for sweet good formulations or processing. New enzyme technology is now available to be applied in sweet bakery items.

How does enzyme use fit with the trend today that favors “natural” ingredient choices?

Enzymes are a great approach to maintain high product quality without negatively impacting a product label. Using different types of enzymes, multiple functional ingredients can be replaced while only one ingredient — “enzymes” — is added to the product label. Enzymes often perform their function throughout the processing period and are then deactivated by the heating stage. Any remaining material is present as a small amount of protein.

What advice do you give a baker/customer wanting to switch out of chemical additive ingredients and into enzyme-based materials? How can they get started with such conversions?

When working with a customer, it is important to first identify what ingredients they want to reduce or remove from their formulation. Additionally, identifying the functionality they wish to retain when moving to enzymes, or natural solutions, is important to maintain product performance. Corbion has developed optimized solutions to fit the needs for processing aids, improved product quality and extended freshness.

How should enzymes be stored and handled within the bakery setting?

Enzymes are active ingredients and must be handled with care to maintain optimal performance. It is best to store enzyme-containing products at ambient temperatures or below and under dry conditions.

What is Corbion Caravan’s most recent introduction of enzymes or enzyme-based products for use in baked foods? What function do they serve in which products?

Corbion Caravan’s Ultra Fresh line is the industry-leading enzyme portfolio for product quality and freshness. This collection encompasses the latest innovations for breads and rolls, tortillas and sweet good applications. Superior quality is achieved through using enzyme technology to achieve texture modification, enhanced freshness and extended product lifecycle. Manufacturing and distribution efficiencies are now possible through the implementation of Ultra Fresh.

Ultra Fresh Sweet is an all-natural, enzyme-based line of products designed specifically for baked sweet goods and was launched in 2013. This would include cupcakes, snack cakes, muffins, cake and yeast donuts, Danish, cinnamon rolls and large sheet cakes. Functionally, this line of products will create a premium texture on Day One while maintaining this freshness beyond current lifecycles. In addition to texture improvements, Ultra Fresh Sweet offers opportunity to simplify a product label. Ingredients that were previously relied on for texture modification and moisture retention may no longer be critical. This could include gums, starches or emulsifiers.

Our Pristine portfolio of products offers clean-label solutions that are free of undesirable additives, minimize ingredient declaration length and are all-natural. This portfolio includes natural dough improvers to replace chemical conditioners and all-natural strengtheners. Processing times can be reduced, dough strength improved, or dough elasticity increased. These enzyme-based systems provide opportunities to improve ingredient declarations along with reducing gluten and lowering overall ingredient cost. Pristine products can be applied to sponge-and-dough systems, straight doughs, frozen dough or applications with extended fermentation times. Product categories include breads and rolls, artisan, tortillas and sweet dough.