Hagberg falling number: diagnosing and correcting amylase activity

The falling number measures the time (in seconds) that a piston takes to fall through a heated starch gel made from the flour. The more active the amylase, the more fluid the gel and the lower the number.

High number (above 300 s): weak amylase activity. The fermentation lacks sugars, the bread comes out pale and under-developed, the crumb is dry and goes stale fast. We correct by adding fungal amylases, easy to dose because they deactivate early during baking — little risk of over-correction.

Low number (below 200 s): excessive activity, most often sprouted wheat or a damp harvest. The starch is too degraded, the crumb turns sticky and moist, the crust darkens too fast and the loaf can collapse. The correction is more delicate: blending wheats to raise the number, and if needed agents that slow the activity. We do not “add” enzymes in this case.

Favourable zone for breadmaking: around 250-300 s. Below or above, we adjust.

In the mill, the corrector aims to bring every batch back into this window whatever the variability of the wheats. In the bakery, the improver already contains a balanced enzymatic system; the dosage is tuned on site.

Our laboratory measures the falling number along with the alveogram and a trial baking, then calibrates the correction — without overdosing, which costs money and unbalances the crumb.