Natural enzyme found to improve bread quality and shelf life
Written by Chris Andrews on October 26th, 2005 in Preservatives, News.
From www.foodproductiondaily.com
Researchers in Ireland may have developed a naturally occurring enzyme preparation for baking, which increases loaf volume and crumb softness while also extending shelf life by three days.
I’m instantly suspicious of the phrase “developed a naturally occurring”. Is it naturally occuring or not? Does that make it better than a chemical (E-Number) or worse (GM foods). The word natural isn’t neccessarily to be trusted.
Anyways. The enzymes that are called hemicellulases, work on compounds found in wheat that inhibit the optimal development of dough. Hemicellulases act on arabinoxylans which are found naturally in layers of bran. These are large molecules that interfere physically with dough formation when water is added to flour.
Personally, we avoid wheat bread like the plague but I’m happy to see this working with Rye as well as wheat. It’s a long article so click on the link at the top of this posting to read it in full. More information of trying to manipulate the bread more. Apparently:
According to the scientists, the next step in their research will be to find a way to increase the amount of dietary fibre in bread while retaining crumb softness.
People really can’t be bothered to chew, can they?