New cheaper enzyme could double shelf life
claims to extend the shelf life of baked goods and significantly
reduce manufacturers' production costs, reports Lorraine
Heller.
Veron Amylofresh is promoted as a unique amylase that offers extended freshness, reducing production costs due to its lower cost in use and significantly cutting stale bread returns.
AB claims that Veron Amylofresh provides savings of up to 35 per cent in production costs, while significantly extending the shelf life of baked goods by preserving crumb softness and moistness.
It said producers would save money because the enzyme could be used more economically than existing shelf life extension products on the market, and only costs €0.52 per 100kg of flour compared to the average €0.80.
All Veron products already claim to lower costs by enabling producers to use less of other ingredients in product formulations, yet still ensuring a consistently high quality and improved baking performance.
According to AB, bakeries also suffer stale bread losses of up to 20 per cent. It said Amylofresh would help to reverse these losses if used in its Veron production line, saving several million tons of flour per year and making firms more efficient.
On the consumer end, a study by AB found that freshness ranks second after taste in consumer buying decisions. Amylofresh has been devised to fit this trend by offering significantly improved texture, longer lasting crumb softness and moistness and better crumb resilience.
The enzyme was developed mainly for use in wheat products but can also be added to sweet dough, with AB claiming that it doubles the shelf life of fine baked goods such as donuts, brioches, cakes and muffins.
AB Enzymes produced the first ever Xylanase for baking more than 30 years ago - marketed under the name Veron - sparking huge changes in the international baking industry.
Today most baked goods on shelves are made with the help of Xylanase, as it is considered by many to be the most important enzyme for baking applications in terms of dough properties and baking quality.
There are signs that the bakery enzyme market, which currently constitutes about a third of the overall food enzyme market, could actually make the strongest gains in the sector over the next few years.
Recent research from market analyst group Frost and Sullivan pinpointed bakery enzymes as the fastest growing food enzyme segment with a compound rate of about 7.2 per cent. The report valued the market for bakery enzymes at €32.7 million ($42.1 million) in 2003, expected to reach €53.3 million by 2010.
