Miller Magazine Issue: 124 April 2020

58 COVER STORY MILLER / APRIL 2020 for bakers • Speeding up the fermentation process and increasing the volume of the dough Flour improvers belong to natural food additives that are known to be safe to use. They are known as GRAS (Gener- ally Recognized As Safe For Addition To Food). TYPES OF FLOUR IMPROVERS Flour improvers can be used by millers, bakers, in cakes and biscuits factories or at homes. And there are many types of improvers for wheat flour, such as: A-ENZYMES: They are considered the most commonly used molecules in flour improvers. The most important enzymes used in the milling filed are: 1. Amylases: They are enzymes that break down and de- stroy starch in flour by destroying large molecules of starch and transforming them into smaller units. Alpha-Amylase, Beta-Amylase and the Amyloglucosidase (Glu- co-Amylase) are very important en- zymes in the amylase family: i. Alpha-Amylase: It is an enzyme that destroys starch in flour and dough, which facilitates the production of gas through fermentation and reduces the viscosity of dough, which leads to more dough volume during the fermentation process and helps giving the golden color for baked products ii. Beta-Amylase: This enzyme breaks down the Maltose (a sugar made-up from two parts of Glucose) this way the enzyme provides sugar that can be used by yeast for fermentation and gives the golden color for the baked products. iii. Amyloglucosidase: Known also as the Gluco-Amylase. This enzyme produces Glu- cose directly from starch and Maltase and since Glucose is the nutrition for yeast then this enzyme increases the power of fermen- tation. iv. Protease: It transforms large proteins into smaller chains of amino acids. Using this enzyme in biscuits, for example, gives the gluten more softness and steadiness in the final shape and using it in wafer leads to breaking down the gluten and reducing breakage in wafer. 2. Hemcellulase: Cellulase is one of the most abundant organic compounds on earth as it is found in the cell wall of fresh plants. The Hemcellulase enzyme breaks down the cellulose part into sugar molecules that can be used in artificial fermentation. 3.Oxidase: It is the enzyme that uses Oxygen to increase energy. 4.Lipase: It is used to break down fats. This enzyme soft- ens the pasta surface and helps it maintain its shape when cooked. B- ORGANIC or AMINO ACIDS: Citric Acid, Lactic Acid and Ascorbic Acid are the most im- portant amino acids used in the milling and baking industry. Ascorbic Acid is, however, the most commonly used flour improver, it is scientifically known as vitamin C, it helps the dough to store the gas produced by yeast, to maintain the steadiness of the dough and to increase the volume of bread.