Choosing your baking enzymes well: amylases, xylanases, oxidases, lipases

Enzymes are proteins that catalyse a precise reaction in the dough, then are destroyed by baking heat. They therefore do not appear in the finished product's ingredient list. Each family has a role.

Amylases (especially fungal): break down damaged starch into sugars. Effect: better fermentation, a more coloured crust, volume, prolonged freshness. To be dosed according to the Hagberg falling number.

Xylanases / hemicellulases: act on the pentosans (flour fibres) and release water. Effect: a better hydrated dough, more extensible, more volume — without hardening. Useful on short flours.

Glucose oxidase: reinforces the gluten network by creating bridges. Effect: a more tenacious, more tolerant dough, better structure — partly replaces ascorbic acid and chemical oxidants. Useful on weak flours.

Lipases: modify the flour lipids and create a natural emulsion. Effect: a finer, whiter crumb, softness, longer shelf life — a partial alternative to added emulsifiers.

In practice, you do not choose an isolated enzyme but a balanced complex, adjusted to the flour diagnosis (W, P/L, Hagberg) and the use. Too much amylase makes the crumb sticky; too much oxidase makes the dough too firm and grey. The right dosage is set in a trial baking.

FinaAfric formulates these bio-enzymatic complexes in collaboration with Soufflet Biotechnologies, for milling as for baking.