Supplementary Bakery lngrefients for Quality and Property Enhancement in Baked Products

High in calories, sugar, and fat but low in fiber, bakery products, such as cakes, biscuits, and cookies, usually contain wheat flour, sugar, and fat as main ingredients in addition to dairy products and leaveners. Since any ingredient quantity and type adjustment will influence a baked good's sensory quality, the following quality-enhancing ingredients are applied to the product.

1. Quality improvers enhance the sensory quality of a baked product and strengthen its gluten network formation, which contributes to stronger dough stability, higher dough volume, improved crumb structure, and better crumb softness. Commonly used substances are oxidizing agents, including ascorbic acid and other enzymes, such as amylases, proteases, transglutaminases, lipases, and glucose oxidase, that help refine the sensory quality of the products. Furthermore, suppose cellulases, hemicellulases, xylanases, or arabinosidase is added for quality enhancement of whole wheat bread.
In that case, it will have better softness, more substantial volume, and a higher quantity of soluble dietary fibers. Inulin or trehalose can also enhance the textures of cakes, biscuits, cookies, crackers, and cereal bars.

2. Sugar replacers, such as sucralose, stevia, acesulfame-K, aspartame, maltitol, erythritol, xylitol and isomalt, can replace sucrose or granulated sugar and are commonly used as low-calories sweeteners. Several types of sweeteners can be combined together and may partially substitute granulated sugar. Other factors to be taken into consideration when using a sugar replacer are water solubility, aftertaste, the final quality that needs to resemble that of the original product with normal sugar, consumer acceptance, and heat resistance.

3. Fat replacers have water-binding properties and can be used to replace fat lubricate humidity dough, and add fat-like liquidity and smoothness to the batter, fat–replacing substances include hydrocolloids and dextrins, such as maltodextrin, polydextrose, modified starch, and inulin.

4. Fiber supplements or utilizing raw material by-products derived from food processing, such as soybean meal, sesame seed meal, meal and bran from cereal grains or beans, and food, vegetable, cocoa, or coffee by-products. Cereal bran flour can add fibers to baked products, but a well- calculated and appropriate amount should be used as humidity, water absorbability, and particle sizes of these fibers may yield varying results. Inulin can also add more fibers to the product.
5. Wheat and gluten substitutes in gluten-free baked goods are ideal for people with celiac disease and non-celiac gluten sensitivity. Baked products for this group of consumers must not contain wheat or gluten-based flour, such as spelt, barley, rye, and oat flour. The replacement may include flour made from alternative sources, such as rice, corn potato, cassava, raw banana, buckwheat, sorghum, quinoa, soybean, kidney bean, chickpea, and other beans.
To obtain a gluten-free baked good, these types of flour must be added along with other ingredients such as egg, egg white, soy protein concentrate, and whey protein to increase protein content. Additionally, hydrocolloids such as xanthan gum, guar gum, locust bean gum, or agarose, must also be added to enhance water absorbability and structure. Acidity regulations, emulsifiers, and enzymes, such as amylases, proteinases, and transglutaminase, can be added as well.

6. Preservative from natural sources can delay microbe induced spoilage of baked goods. Acidulants, such as acetic, lactic, and fumaric acids, can help achieve such as goal.

7. Anti-staling agents help delay the staling process in baked products. If stored for an extended period of time, the products may develop drier and more solid texture, friable crumb structure, the more leather-liking outer surface, and less appealing flavor, all of which are a result of moisture loss and starch retrogradation. Anti-staling agents include, but are not limited to trehalose, amylase, lipase, and other emulsifiers.

These supplement bakery ingredients aim to ensure that baked products’s enhanced quality meets consumers’ needs. Effective use of these ingredients involves scientific principles, knowledge of each ingredient’s nature, and an understanding of specific characteristics of the baked goods that consumers’ desire. Moreover, if any main ingredients are adjusted or reduced, a new supplement ingredient may need to be added as a substitute. Whether or not the desired quality is achieved, experiments and studies must be conducted properly to ensure that the final products are healthy and good for consumers.

Source
Assoc. Prof. Naphatrapi Luangsakul, Ph. D.
School of Food Industry
King Mongkut’s Institute of Technology Ladkrabung