Antistaling process and agent

Abstract

The staling of leavened baked products such as bread is retarded by adding an enzyme with exoamylase activity to the flour or dough used for producing the baked product in question.

Description

FIELD OF INVENTIONThe present invention relates to a process for retarding the staling of bread and similar baked products, as well as an agent for use in the process.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONStaling of baked products, principally bread, has been ascribed to certain properties of the starch component of flour. Starch is essentially composed of amylose forming the core of starch granules and amylopectin forming the outer "envelope" of starch granules. Starch suspensions have been observed to retrograde on standing to precipitate the amylose which, by some, has been given as the explanation of the phenomenon of staling. Others have explained staling of bread in terms of the amylopectin chains in starch associating to cause a greater rigidity of the bread crumb which is characteristic of stale bread.It is generally recognized to be of some commercial importance to retard the staling of baked products so as to improve their shelf-life. Retardation of the staling process may, for insta...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

It has surprisingly been found that when the enzyme added to dough used for producing baked products is an exoamylase, an antistaling effect is obtained whereas the formation of a sticky or gummy crumb is substatially avoided except at very high levels of the enzyme which also give rise to other deleterious effects likely to be discovered when the baked products are subjected to quality control.

It was also found that by using exoamylase enzymes one avoids a certain softness and stickiness of the dough which is often encountered when .alpha.-amylases, especially fungal .alpha.-amylases, are used for antistaling, and especially if the .alpha.-amylase has been overdosed, even if only to a mild degree.

Problems solved by technology

The use of .alpha.-amylase for retarding the staling of bread has, however, not become widespread.

The reason for this is assumed to be that the medium-molecular weight branched compounds, termed maltodextrins (with 20-100 glucose units in the molecule), generated through the hydrolytic action of .alpha.-amylases have a sticky consistency in themselves resulting in the formation of a sticky or gummy crumb, and consequently an unacceptable mouthfeel, of the baked product if the .alpha.-amylase is overdosed so that the maltodextrins are present in excessive quantities.