Bread improver
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Bread improver has been a common ingredient in bread since the early 1950's used to speed up bread production.
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[edit] History
Before the 1950's, bread had been made virtually the same way since it was first discovered. Using Sourdoughs, and Sponge and dough methods, bread would take up to a day to produce. This was necessary so that certain chemical changes could happen in the bread. With the advent of plant bakeries making square (condensed) loaves of bread en masse in the early 1950s, the production time for bread had to be sped up. It was discovered that the addition of certain chemicals and enzymes into the bread could shorten the process to 2 hours instead of the usual 12 - 24 hours.
[edit] Function
There are 2 main reasons for the use of bread improvers, and that is to help produce gas, and to retain the gas inside the bread. This is done by including enzymes (such as Amylase and Protease to act on the yeast and gluten.
When sour dough is made, a ferment dough is mixed first and left to ferment for up to 24 hours. Yeast contains limited amounts of amylase and protease enzymes and this ferment helps to increase the amounts of these naturally. Bread improvers aim to boost the amount of these enzymes artificially thereby increasing the amount of fermentation early on in the bread production and cutting out the initial ferment stage of doughs such as sour dough. The protease enzyme strengthens the gluten thereby giving the bread a better structure and retaining all of the gas produced.
[edit] Ingredients
While the ingredients of improver can vary largely depending on what its use is and the manufacturer, there are a few important ingredients found in all improvers.
- Ascorbic Acid - Used to strengthen the gluten,
- Hydrochloride - Gluten softening and clearing,
- Sodium met-bisulfate - Gluten softening and clearing,
- Ammonium Chloride - Food for yeast,
- Phosphates - Food for yeast,
- Amylase - Enzyme used to break down starch into simple sugars, thereby letting yeast ferment quickly,
- Protease - Enzyme used to strengthen the gluten.
These ingredients are usually distributed in a soy flour filler as the amounts of different ingredients can be as little as 120mg per Kg.
[edit] Controversy
In the early 1990's, two ingredients commonly used in bread improvers were singled out as causing harm to those who ate the bread. Preservative 202 was linked to Attention-Deficit Disorder among children. Potassium Bromate was also singled out as being potentially carcinogenic. Both of these additives have since been widely discontinued among manufactures.
