Miller Magazine Issue: 124 April 2020

49 COVER STORY MILLER / APRIL 2020 Additives play an important role in determining the physical and functional properties of bakery products. Additives are used to en- hance the color, texture, flavor, and stability of bakery products such as bread, cakes, muffins, rolls, croissants, pizza, biscuits, and donuts. Emulsifiers are one of the main ingredients used as bread additives in various bakery product applications. Other ingredients such as en- zymes, oxidizing agents and reducing agents are also widely used in bakery applications. Manufacturers of bakery products are in- creasingly expanding their product range to meet dynamic consum- er demands such as functional requirements like low fat and high nutritional value and taste. The demand for different types of bread such as whole wheat and multigrain increases the demand for bread additives. Flour is a staple that serves as an excellent source of energy for people around the world, though the source and form of the flour may vary across regions. Wheat, maize and rice serve as the most common sources of flour though the production of wheat flour re- mains the highest. Flour is a relatively economical solution to signif- icant proportions of the world‘s population as compared to other staples. Flour forms an inevitable part of the modern-day processed food segment. It is the basis of most baked goods, snacks, extruded prod- ucts such as noodles, pasta and wafers – products that occupy a major portion of the retail shelf. However, the processing of grains The increase in global demand for bread, bis- cuits, pasta and bakery products brings with it the growth of the additives market. Increasing consumer awareness of healthy food products in the past few years has skyrocketed the nu- tritious food market. The combination of en- zymes and micronutrient premixes serves not only as a value addition to the nutritional profile but also refines the textural properties of the flour. Life-saving vitamins and minerals should be made available through fortified grains to the billions around the globe who suffer from micronutrient deficiencies. ADDITIVES IN GRAIN MILLING