Mühlenchemie launches guar gum replacers

06-Jun-2012 - Last updated on 07-Jun-2012 at 11:59 GMT

Related tags Gums E number Locust bean gum

Prices of gum derived from guar seeds have rocketed in recent months

Flour treatment firm Mühlenchemie has launched a new guar gum replacer range for the bakery industry, which it claims is superior to pure hydrocolloids such as locust bean or tara gum.

The company said the range was based on a new combination of active, enzymatic ingredients and included EMCEbest WA, WA Plus and WA Pure. WA Pure also permits clean label formulations.

“All are based on fibres, gums and enzymes in differing amounts and combinations,” Lutz Popper, head of research and development at Mühlenchemie, told FoodNavigator. “EMCEbest WA Pure does not contain ingredients with E-numbers and hence is suitable for clean or lean labels.”

The products improved the stability of dough during preparation and enabled bread manufacturers to reduce the amount of, or replace, guar gum in products, said Popper. In some cases they even outperformed guar gum, he added. Mühlenchemie claims they can boost baked volumes by 4% more than guar gum powder.

Superior to pure hydrocolloids

“The EMCEbest WA range makes use of the synergy of fibres, gums and enzymes,” said Popper. “Therefore their function is superior to that of pure hydrocolloids such as tara, locust bean gum or guar, which are used as functional components in EMCEbest WA and EMCEbest WA Plus, in addition to fibres from potatoes, psyllium or peas.”

Processors could make significant savings by turning to the range, he said. “The savings depend on the market price for hydrocolloids, in particular guar gum. Although the EMCEbest WA range also makes use of these ingredients, their contribution to costs is small because their amount has been reduced substantially. Therefore the price of the EMCEbest WA range is much more stable and allows for a reliable long term calculation of the end product costs.”

EMCEbest WA ensured doughs remained dry immediately after preparation and needed no additional swelling time, said the company.

Clean label variant

Using EMCEbest WA Pure, 6-10% more water could be added without additives, depending on the formulation, while doughs remained easy to process and did not become sticky, it added. The resulting crumb was soft and elastic with an even texture. These benefits, in addition to a volume boost of up to 4%, were confirmed with directly processed and over-fermented doughs for bread, rolls and baguettes and also with heavy doughs for products containing dried fruit.

Bakers and other food manufacturers have been scrabbling to find alternatives to guar gum because prices of the ingredient have rocketed in recent months. This is because of availability issues caused by oil and natural gas producers siphoning off great quantities for their own use.

First contracts have already been placed for the products, said Popper.