Flour Treatment Enzyme: How to Make Dough Better

Flour treatment Enzymes are added during the milling or baking process as specialized biological catalysts to aid in the quality, performance, and consistency of the flour. Unlike chemical additives, enzymes work on specific components of the flour such as starch, protein, and fiber, which makes them natural flour additives. They are extensively employed in modern baking and milling to improve dough strength, gas retention, fermentation, and consistency of the baked goods.

Enzymes that are commonly used for flour treatment are amylases, xylanases, lipases, proteases, and glucose oxidase, each of which enhances dough handling and product specific attributes during and after baking. Flour Treatment Enzymes are important because they enhance the performance of flour without compromising safety or nutrition. They help achieve bread that has softer texture and increased volume, crispier crust, improved texture of the crumb, and longer shelf life.

Enzymes also help improve the quality of flour and products that bakers and millers produce which reduces the reliance on chemical flour improvers, as they enable the use of a wider range of wheat qualities. Flour treatment enzymes improve the quality of flour and flour-based products while making them appealing to the consumer. They enhance the functionality of food while catering to the growing demand for natural ingredients and cleaner food labels, which makes these enzymes a focus of sustainable and efficient food processing methods.

An amylase is an enzyme that splits carbohydrates, like starch, into sugar and simple sugars. Maltose, glucose, and dextrins are essential sugar types which help in fermentation process, coloration of crusts and flavor. Amylases helps in breaking down starch in case of underperforming enzyme activity, as is the case in weak flour, and are thus, added.

At the time of fermentation, amylases are added to improve the performance of the flour by bettering the fermentation, addressing fermentation and easing the fermentation, addressing loaf volume and easing the fermentation process.

An amylase is an enzyme that splits carbohydrates, like starch, into sugar and simple sugars. Maltose, glucose, and dextrins are essential sugar types which help in fermentation process, coloration of crusts and flavor. Amylases helps in breaking down starch in case of underperforming enzyme activity, as is the case in weak flour, and are thus, added.

At the time of fermentation, amylases are added to improve the performance of the flour by bettering the fermentation, addressing fermentation and easing the fermentation, addressing loaf volume and easing the fermentation process.

• Function: Randomly breaks down starch into shorter chains (dextrins)
• Role in Baking: Increases yeast activity thus increasing CO₂ generation, supporting better oven spring, softer crumb and better yeast activity to help provide a well-balanced loaf.
• Source: Found in sprouted wheat. Fungal or bacterial alpha-amylase help improve baking and thus, is a better option in commercial baking for controlled activity.

• Function: Maltose, a fermentable sugar is released by working on the end of starch chains.
• Role in Baking: Benefits yeast by providing a constant supply of maltose, which is necessary for yeast for sustenance during fermentation.
• Source: Includes glucoamylase naturally present in wheat flour, although the concentration is a function of the wheat variety and milling process.

• Function: Destroys dextrins and maltose, and turns them into glucose.
• Role in Baking: Acts to generate fermentable glucose which leads to increased yeast activity and enhancement of increased crust color.
• Source: Is produced from fungi, and more specifically, the species Aspergillus niger.

• Function: Restricts the complete breakdown of starch, slowly releasing maltose from starch.
• Role in Baking: Its use is focused in the modification of retrogradation of starch to delay staling.
• Source: Produced by bacterial strains such as Bacillus stearothermophilus.

Amylases have multiple benefits to baked products and flour:

• Enhancement of Fermentation: Availability of fermentable sugars results in more active yeast which in turn improves baking results.
• Better Volume of the Loaf: Gas production and retention in the dough leads to lighter and bigger bread.
• Better Color of the Crust: Sugar generated via action of amylases helps during Mallard browning.
• Longer shelf life: Malt genic amylase helps to keep bread softer for a longer time by slowing down the retro gradation of starch.
• Baking consistency: Correction of flour with low natural enzyme activity guarantees consistent dough performance.

Malt flour comes from sprouting (malting) certain cereal grains such as barley or wheat. These grains are dried and milled into flour. Malting activates certain natural enzymes in the grain, especially amylases, which are vital in the process of breaking down starch into simpler components like sugar. Malt flour may be diastatic (enzymatically active) or non-diastatic (enzymes deactivated through heat).

• Function: Randomly cleaves starch into dextrin fragments.
• Impact: Increases fermentable sugars for yeast, improving fermentation, oven spring, and loaf volume.
• In Malt Flour: This is the main reason diastatic malt flour is valued – it improves the performance of weak flour.

• Function: Cleaves maltose (disaccharide sugar) from a starch chain.
• Effect: Provides yeast with a continuous nutrient source during fermentation, improves crust browning and bread fragrance.
• In Malt Flour: Often derived from brewing barley, it is a major source of amylases necessary for fermentation and sweetening of various substrates for yeast.

• Action: Dismantle proteins, including gluten, into smaller peptides and amino acids.
• Effect: Enhance yeast nutrition, and modify dough relaxation.
• In Malt Flour: Assist in making dough more workable, but if too great, gluten strength is excessively diminished.

• Action: Dismantles branched starch molecules (e.g. of amylopectin) into lower molecular weight species.
• Effect: Works with amylases to ensure complete breakdown of starch to its constituent sugars, thus increasing the fermentable sugars.
• In Malt Flour: Assists in the efficient starch conversion especially in diastatic malt flours used for bread.

• Increased Fermentation: More sugars from amylases serve the yeast, leading to a greater rise.
• Increased Yield and Better Crust Color: More maltose and glucose enhances the Maillard browning leading to the production of golden-brown loaves.
• Development of Aroma and Taste: Activity of enzymes during production releases compounds that contribute to the aroma and taste of the bread.
• Better Management of Dough: Proteases help to relax dough that makes it easier to shape.
• Quality Control: Diastatic malt flour corrects low-enzyme flours (high Falling Number) which improves flour quality.

• Imparts flavor, nutrition, and diastatic properties to flour.
• Used in small amounts (0.5–2% of flour weight).
• “Strong” flour with a deficiency of amylase enzyme can be improved.
• Enhances fermentation, loaf volume, and crumb softness.

• Non-diastatic enzyme flour can provided flavor, aroma, and color.
• Common in bagels, pretzels, and specialty breads.
• Does not affect the dough enzyme activity.

Hemicellulases are enzymes that target hemicellulose, a complex structural polysaccharide highly regarded for its presence within cell walls of wheat. In flour, the most significant hemicelluloses are arabinoxylans, which binds water and influences the development of gluten. Hemicellulases improve the distribution of water in dough by performing partial depolymerization of these polysaccharides, which results in softer, more extensible, and more convenient dough during mixing and fermentation.

During the baking stage, dough with hemicellulase treatment is able to retain gas better which, in turn, allows for greater volume and a more delicate crumb. Furthermore, hemicellulases aid in the preservation of bread by lowering the crumb firmness and delaying staling. These qualities are the reasons hemicellulases are incorporated in bread improvers and baking enzymes for both white and whole meal bread.

Pentosanase is still a part of the hemicellulase family of enzymes and is more specific, as it only hydrolyzes pentosans, mainly arabinoxylans. Although it only makes up a small fraction of flour (about 2 to 3 percent), pentosans impact the dough system because of their capability of water binding. The work of pentosanase enhances the dough by freeing water for starch gelation and gluten hydration, which increases the development of dough and positively improves its handling.

Within the baking processes, pentosanase decreases the stickiness of the dough, increases the elasticity of the dough, and is therefore helpful with whole wheat and rye flours, which are high in pentosans. It increases loaf volume while keeping the crumb soft and improving the overall texture of the bread. This provides more control over the high diff fiber flours.

Xylanase of baking is a particular type of hemicellulase that specifically works on xylans (arabinoxylans); especially the insoluble types in flour. Gluten’s gas retention capability and the volume of bread is reduced by insoluble arabinoxylans on account of their disruptive influence. Soluble forms of xylanase are more easily attained. Thus, xylanase supports the formation of dough which is more stable, elastic, and hydrated, resulting in more complete fermentation and baking.

Baking utilizes xylanase for increased loaf volume, softer crumb, and improved water absorption. Xylanase is more useful in high whole meal and high-extraction flours because of the higher presence of insoluble fibers that disrupt the dough quality. It is often used in conjunction with amylase and glucose oxidase for improved overall flour functionality.

As a proteolytic enzyme, protease attacks specific bonds within the chains of proteins in wheat flour, with a particular focus on gluten forming proteins. When flour protein, glutenin, and gliadin are combined with water and subjected to the kneading process, gluten is formed. Gluten is a structural and elastic protein, vital in any spinning substance because it is able to retain large volumes of gas. With in excess however, resistant gluten strengthens the dough, creating rigidity, and reducing the extensibility which in turn, makes the dough difficult to process.

This is particularly the case when working with high protein flours – the dough becomes ultra-resistant to stretching and sheeting. Dough strength is countered with gluten protein extensibility when protease is at work. The excess balance of PE supplemented within the dough has a controlled action that softens it. This action enhances the performance of the dough in various machines. In turn, this reduces the mixing time needed, whilst also easing the shaping process.

This is favorable in the production of crackers, biscuits, flatbreads, and cookies, just to name a few, which demand more extensibility with tenderness and less on gas retention.

Recognized for clarity and elegance, ‘Proteases’ offers several functional advantages, especially for the wheat flour based products. For laminated products like croissants and puff pastry, the dough that is repeatedly rolled and folded, easily tears. Protease activity reduces the tension and extensibility of dough and weakens the gluten, allowing for easier gluten and dough manipulation. Protease activity is especially valuable during the sheeting of dough, where the control of stretchable and foldable dough shunting is of utmost importance, and the decrease of shrinkage during the baking stage is equally valuable to the end results of the finished product.

Fermented foods like bread benefit from easier, optimized handling, but the protease component of the dough must be present in a very controlled way. The activity of protease in the dough that is too abundant results in a more fragile dough structure, unable to retain gas, resulting in bread that is low in volume. The activity of proteases features in the manufacture of cookies and biscuits, softening the tough batters, and enabling easier biting, with increased spread.

Especially in high volume industries, proteases help standardize the quality of blended flours and assist with dough rheology plateaus, to slow down, dough tolerance for rapid mechanical working.

In a deeper scope, the application of protease enzymes also augments the processes of shelf-life, texture, and the overall quality of a given product. Furthermore, they are able to augment the supplementation of wheaten flours with strong gluten to for a wider range of baked products other than bread. Bakeries can also achieve a finer and softer product with the addition of modified gluten matrix proteases, contributing to softer texture and finer products. Ethanol produced by yeast also suggests their improvement in the fermentation of dough, owing to the release of small constexpr bodies that are the nutrient sources of yeast, further contributing to enhanced fermentation efficiency and flavoring of the dough.

The protease in baking industry is widely used in conjunction with other enzymes like amylase, lipase, and xylanase to maintain a balanced dough. If used in the right amounts, protease can also make certain adjustments to the flour used, enabling bakers to control the characteristics of the dough, whether in the case of gentle and soft extends, bendy flatbreads, or laminated pastries, all having gentle and soft texture.

Therefore, the protease is very essential in the modern baking industry as it maintains the balance of gluten and dough control, greatly improving the quality and consistency of products.

Lipolytic enzymes fall under a category of flour treatment enzymes which target the lipids (fats) associated with wheat flour. The major components relevant in baking are lipases and lipoxygenases and the role for which they are associated with is the enhancement of the flour lipids and its subsequent dough and bread quality.

Lipases work by breaking down triglycerides and other complex lipids, free fatty acids and partial glycerides, while lipoxygenases oxidatively degrade polyunsaturated fatty acids. It is also noted that wheat flour, while containing only 1–2% lipids, plays a role in the stability of the dough, retention of the gas, softness of the crumb and the longevity of the product. This stabilizing effect is achieved by lipolytic enzymes which reinforce the connection that lipids have with gluten and starch.

Lipolytic enzymes are used in baking to stregnthen the stability of the dough as well as the crumb structure. Lipase enzyme activity elevates the concentration of polar lipids, which can serve as natural emulsifiers, which stabilizes the gas cells in the dough during fermentation and baking. Thus, the volume of the loaf is increased while the crumb texture achieves improved softness, achieving a finer and more uniform structure. Lipoxygenase, in contrast, aids in the bleaching of flour carotenoid pigments, yielding a crumb with a lighter color.

 In addition, stronger gluten networks can be constructed by the lipoxygenase enzyme through the oxidation of glutenen forming proteins, therefore, increasing the elasticity and dough workability. All these enzymes together can emulsify fats in the dough which can reduce the amount of emulsifiers such as DATEM or SSL. When used in clean-label baking, these enzymes become increasingly more favorable options as more chemical emulsifiers are eliminated. On the other hand, excessive enzyme addition can be detrimental to the dough’s non Newtonian fluid rheology as well as the flavor through the excessive lipolysis of free fatty acids.

The application of lipolytic enzymes extends beyond breadmaking to include specialty bakery products. For example, in croissants, Danish pastries, and other laminated doughs, lipolytic enzymes improve dough layering and gas retention, which enhances lift and flakiness. In addition, lipases improve texture and aeration in cakes and cookies while lipoxygenases may oxidatively develop pigments to enhance color. Moreover, the modification of lipid interactions in the crum of bread helps reduces staling as well as extending shelf life, which proves to be economically beneficial for large scale bakeries.

This is due to the fact that they have increased the ability to retain softness and freshness during storage and distribution. As a whole, lipolytic enzymes serve as dough improvers that enhance the structure of the crumb as well as the shelf-life of the bread, all while supporting a more approachable, “clean-label” formulation.

Enzymes used in the treatment of flour include amylases, proteases, hemicellulases (xylanase, pentosanase), and lipolytic enzymes. They each act to improve dough handling and the quality of the bread. For instance, amylase breaks down starch to sugar, which will then enhance yeast fermentation and crust color. Protease, on the other hand, weakens the strong gluten bonds, therefore, increasing the extensibility of the dough. Hemicelluloses also enhance the water absorption of the dough (volumes of the loaf), and petristic softness of the crumb.

 Lipolytic enzymes act on the lipids of the refined flour, thus refines and improves the dough, and keeps it factory fresh for long periods of time. To enhance the functionality of the flour, these enzymes can be used alone or in combinations to improve the consistency and baking performance of the flour.

Flour treatment enzymes are used in baking so as to facilitate the handling of the dough, fermentation as well as improve the quality of the final product. Most commonly used ones include amylase which breaks down starch to simple sugars which improves yeast activity, crust color, and volume; protease which weakens gluten to improve extensibility; hemicellulases (especially xylanase), which improves the absorption of water to the dough, softness of the crumb, and volume of the loaf; and lipolytic enzymes which improves the stability of the dough as well as the structure of the crumb and the shelf-life of the bread.

These enzymes improve the functionality of the flour without the addition of synthetic materials which results to consistent quality in the final products.